


Family Ties

by VoidDragonQueen



Series: The Seamstress's Son [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Found Family, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Sibling Bonding, Time Skips, Underage Drinking, au- Akechi gets adopted, mentions of terrible parents, talks about marriage, what of it, yes he does the dumb teen thing yes hes 25
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:00:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16381904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidDragonQueen/pseuds/VoidDragonQueen
Summary: Akechi gets the one thing he has always wanted: a loving family. However, the process of actually connecting and bonding with his family, and being an older brother especially, is something he never learned how to do. It's a long, long journey ahead of him.The sequel to Coming Home.





	1. A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, finally picking these two series back up again. This has been sitting in my WIPs for a while, so I decided to clean it up and post it, finally.

“Wait wait wait, ah-, Akira, stop.” Goro gasped.

Akira stopped, concerned as he looked down at his boyfriend. He looked almost as pale as the sheets he was gripping tightly.

“Too much. Get up.”

Akira let Goro pull himself away, pushing up on his chest. He got up and went downstairs, coming back with two glasses of water. He handed one to Goro as he sat up, sitting back down on the edge. He took a gulp of water, slowly evening out his breathing.

“...Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize for getting overwhelmed. I want it to feel good for you too, otherwise what would be the point?”

“I know, but I still feel bad.” He mumbled, leaning into him after setting the water down on the shelf by his bed.

“We can go back to it if you’re feeling up to it again later.”

“Mhm.”

“Hey, did you think about what I said earlier?”

Goro hummed in thought, looking up at him. Akira gently brushed his hair out of his face, the scar around his left eye slightly bumpy under his fingertips as he cupped his face.

“I mean, we’d have to go to a different district to marry. I know you’re excited about having a wedding, but I’m still not sure. Besides, we haven’t even decided on a name we want yet.”

“I would love an extravagant wedding, but I know you think that would be obnoxious.”

“Because it would be, Kiri. Come on, now.”

Akira kissed him gently, sliding his hand up Goro’s thigh to his waist. Goro put a hand on his chest to make sure he didn’t get carried away. Goro pulls away with a happy sigh.

“Kurusu Goro has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” He murmurs, tracing a finger along Akira’s jaw.

“Really? You’d want to be a Kurusu?”

“I mean, considering…”

“You don’t think Akechi Akira is good?”

“You do realize your friends will call you ‘Double A’ for the rest of your life, right?” He jokes, before the smile drops for a moment. “I… want some distance between me and my old life.”

Akira hides his slight disappointment by kissing his forehead.

“Kurusu it is then.”

“Let’s wait until some time after you graduate, okay? I would hate to interrupt that.”

“Still nervous?”

“I am. I don't want to jump into anything too fast again. I’m not ready for marriage yet.”

“...Will you at least let me get you a nice ring?”

“Don’t go overboard, please. That’s all I ask.”

“Gaudy as fuck, got it.”

“God, you’re the worst.”

Akira giggles as Goro hits him with the pillow. Eventually, they both settle back down, Akira watching his boyfriend fall asleep. The next morning, he watched Goro stir, kissing his nose.

“Morning~”

“Oh, I fell asleep on you, didn't I?”

“In your defense, you're very cute when your sleepy.”

“Ugh, let me wake up before you get mushy.”

Goro grinned as Akira acted offended. They got up, Akira throwing Goro his pants as he got ready, it hitting the floor as his hands were occupied tying his hair up into a messy ponytail. His hair was down past his shoulders now, not wanting to cut it back to its old length. He mentioned it was easier to braid, too.

“Rea is gonna be mad the braid is gone.” He muttered, putting on his pants.

“The girls are very cute, I have to say.” Akira says, watching Goro put on an old t-shirt.

“Mhm. They're very sweet.”

Akira noticed he sounded hesitant for a moment. They both went downstairs, seeing Morgana, Futaba and Sojiro already downstairs.

“Morning kids. Breakfast is ready.”

“Thanks.”

They sat down at the bar, Akira in between Futaba and Goro as they ate. He saw Goro get lost in thought, poking his half-eaten curry.

“Sheesh, what's got you down?” Sojiro asked.

“I'm just nervous, I guess.”

“Oh, how is the process going by the way? Any word yet?”

“No. It's been a month already since we got the paperwork in, but you know how that stuff goes.”

He rubs the back of his neck, staring into his plate. Akira grabs his hand and squeezes it.

“Ah, lovely bureaucracy. At least you know it's in the system.” Sojiro muttered.

“So why are you nervous? They seem to love you.” Akira asked.

“I don’t know how to be an older brother. I know they are in a wonderful home. But with everything… I don't want them to be anything like me. Not like I think that they will be, but...”

“Goro, I've met both of them. I think they'll turn out alright with Nara and Sanako’s care. They sound to be on the right track, and I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, you’re not the one raising them, Sanko and Nara are. They are in good hands, especially if the girls keep holding you in such high regards.”

Goro gives him a smile, eating the rest of his curry in silence. Akira rubs circles into his hand with his thumb to comfort him.

~~~~~

“Oh, it’s so nice that you’re helping your mother! What a nice boy!”

Goro restrained himself from wincing externally, smiling at the older woman, who was there with her slightly embarrassed granddaughter. He liked her, just it always felt awkward explaining to strangers he wasn’t Nara’s actual son.

“Well, I still live and work another job in Tokyo, I help out here when I can.”

“What a sweetheart. Nara, you have such a sweet boy!”

“I really do.”

Goro blushed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Soon enough, the two of them left, having ordered a dress for the granddaughter’s wedding. It was a little past closing time, but the two of them didn’t mind. They walked back together, quiet.

“The girls will be so excited to see you.” Nara murmured as she walked up to the front door.

“I’m excited to see them too.”

Goro nearly falls over as the twins tackle him, hugging for dear life.

“Goru! You’re here!”

“I am. I missed you guys.”

“You took out the braid!”

“It’s hard to brush. I’ll let you re-braid it. C’mon.”

“Can I put stuff in it this time?”

“Sure.”

Goro watches Nara slip into the kitchen as he gets pulled over to the living room, being sat down. Rea runs off and comes back with a container of plastic flowers. Yui climbs into his lap as Rea starts braiding.

“No nail polish this time?”

“Nah, you don’t need it. Also, is Joker naked again?”

“Ha, no he has clothes. Here.”

He pulls out his little stuffed crow, dressed in Ryuji’s outfit. Yui takes it and puts it in her lap, playing with the edge of the costume.

“Will you open a shop like Momma one day?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s a lot of work.”

“When do we get to meet your boyfriend?” Rea asks, threading a red rose through his hair.

“Uh, hopefully soon before he goes back to school.”

“Are you embarrassed of us? Is that why he hasn't come over?”

“What? No, he's just very busy. He wants to meet you two.”

Yui turned on the tv, and the three of them fell silent as they watched Neo Featherman for some time. Rea had several colorful flowers braided into his hair now, and was working on finishing.

“Hey kids, it's dinnertime!”

“Almost done!” Rea calls.

Yui gets up and runs into the kitchen as Rea ties the braid. She jumps off the couch, grabbing Goro’s hand and pulling him to the table. The five of them eat together, chatting and catching up. He goes to help Sanako with the dishes after dinner as Nara gets dragged off to play with the girls for a few minutes.

“Must be a nice change of pace out here compared to Tokyo, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. It's very busy and loud out there. Here, it's more peaceful.”

“I'd imagine. But you seem to love it out there.”

“It's home to me. Plus, all my friends live there, so it's nice.”

Nara comes back in as the two of them finish up, girls in tow. She had something behind her back as the girls stood by Sanako.

“Hey Goro, sit down for a moment. I have a surprise for you.”

Goro did so, watching Nara sit down across from him. Sanako hid her expression behind her hand. Nara slid an open, large envelope towards him. He picked it up, a little confused.

“What's this?”

“Oh, I don't know.” Nara leans forward with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Why don't you find out, Mr. Hamasaki?”

His eyes widen, grabbing the contents of the envelope and looking at them. It was legal documents, and a certificate with his new legal name.

“Welcome to the family.”

He feels himself tear up as he beams at her. The girls and Sanako join them, putting down a slightly lopsided strawberry shortcake in front of him. Sanako grabs a knife and plates, placing them on the table.

“You're our big brother now!” Rea yells as both of them half climb into his lap to hug him.

“We made it ourselves! With mom's help.”

“Looks good, hopefully it tastes good too.” He hugs them both tightly.

The girls scramble to push their chairs to sit right next to him as Sanko cuts the cake, giving everyone a piece. It was a little too sweet, but Goro kept eating it. It was made by his new little sisters, after all.

“So, how does it feel?” Nara asked, smiling.

She was also tearing up a little, seeing how happy he was.

“Strange, but a good kind of strange. I'm a big brother now…”

He couldn't stop the small tone of worry that slid into his voice as he said it.

“Yeah and you're the best big brother ever!”

Yui leans into him as she says it. Goro laughs.

“It's only been a few minutes.” He murmurs, ruffling her hair. “I'll do my best, though.”

 

It took about a week to change everything once he was back in Tokyo, but it felt so liberating. Like a breath of fresh air.

“I'm Hamasaki Goro.” He whispered to himself, over and over again until he fell asleep, still not quite believing it.

The next morning, he opens the group chat, biting his lip before he sends the text.

**Hey. Can we all meet up? I want to talk about something.**

**Kurusu: oh? wat about?**

**Sakura: is it a seeeecret :3c?**

**You’ll have to find out.**

They plan it out with each other, so none of them are left out. The day of their meeting, Goro stands in front of Leblanc for a moment, taking a deep breath before going in. Everyone else was already there, chatting away, causing the usual amount of chaos.

“Hey babe!” Akira waves at him, coming from behind the counter to kiss his cheek.

“Hi Kiri.”

He slips into the empty chair on the side of the table, jumping into the conversation smoothly. Akira pulls up another chair, making him scoot over so they could be side by side. He goes to get a glass of water, standing by his seat and putting the glass down on the table. He sees Ann staring at him intensely and straightens up, not sitting back down yet.

“Hey, so what did you want to talk about, Akechi?” Ann asks, making everyone quiet down.

“Actually, it's Hamasaki now.” He corrects quietly, rubbing his neck.

They all stare at him for a moment before they all start talking at once.

“Wait, seriously?”

“It's official?!”

“Congrats, dude!”

Goro smiles as Akira stands up and pulls him into a hug, lifting him for a moment.

“Ah, it's a shame we can't call you Akechi anymore, huh?” Futaba grins at him.

“Yeah, it's a real crime.” Goro deadpans.

They chat late into the day, everyone genuinely happy for him, and Goro leaves for work glowing from all of their kindness.

~~~~~

The train ride wasn't too bad. Akira shifted slightly, his boyfriend having dozed off on his shoulder. He would've fallen asleep himself if Goro hadn't told him how short of a ride it was compared to his train ride home.

“Hey, babe, it's almost our stop.” Akira murmured, shaking him awake.

“Mm. Okay.” He sits up, yawning.

“You feeling okay?”

“Just busy, lately.”

The two of them get off, walking hand and hand, Goro leading them. The house was pretty, a faded brown with colorful flowers everywhere. Goro lets go of his hand for a moment to knock on the door.

“I don't want to pull you down if I fall over.”

Akira was going to ask why he would fall when the door opened to Nara, before she smiled and stepped aside as two identical twelve year olds barrel into Goro, hugging him. He nearly loses his balance as he laughs and hugs them back.

“Goru!”

“Is that your boyfriend?”

“Hi!”

Akira waves at them, grinning. He follows his boyfriend as he's pulled inside, Yui grabbing his hand too and leading them to the living room. Rea sat on the floor, Goro sitting behind her as he starts braiding her hair. Yui runs off.

“I'm not an expert braider like you, so be patient with me.”

“Too bad your hair isn't long enough Akira, or I would do yours.” Rea says with a bit of a pout.

“Oh, right. Rea, Akira. Akira, Rea. And Yui is probably getting her nail polish out for you.” Goro introduces them.

Yui actually comes back with a board game, dropping it onto Akira's lap.

“Help set it up!”

Akira obeys, the two of them setting the game up. Goro grins as Yui picks up each animal shaped piece, examining each color closely.

“I wanna be tigers.”

“What? But you were tigers last time!”

“So?”

“I wanna be tigers this time!”

“I set it up, I get to be tigers.”

“He did most of the work!”

“Girls, calm down. How about we play twice so you both can be tigers?” Goro interrupts them.

“Can I be tigers first?” Rea asked.

“Fine. I’ll be… elephants.”

“Akira, do you want camels or water buffalos?”

“Uh, camels? I don't even know how to play.”

“We can teach you!”

Rea waits until Goro is done braiding her hair before scooting forward, rotating the board so she had the tiger pieces in front of her. Goro patiently explains how the game works to Akira while the girls impatiently start rolling to see who goes first. Akira is very bad at it, enjoying the light touches as Goro corrects his moves so he's playing correctly. The second game is a lot smoother now that he has the hang of it, almost besting Yui.

“First!” she shouts. “You're really bad at this game Akira.”

“This is only my second time playing, give me a break.”

Nara pokes her head in.

“Hey, can one of you help me make dinner?”

“I can-"

“Akira, you're our guest. Let me.” Goro gets up, walking towards the kitchen.

Yui dumps everything back into the box, Akira helping rearrange it to make sure it could close. Rea stares into Akira's face intensely.

“Yes?”

“Goru talks about you all the time.”

“He does?”

Rea just gets up and sprints off, leaving Akira confused. Yui drops the box on the coffee table, then sitting back down on the floor. Rea comes back with dark purple nail polish.

“Nails?”

“Maybe wait until after dinner? So it doesn't go everywhere?”

Rea nods, putting the bottle down on the table. The two of them start teaching Akira a hand game before Sanako opens the door, the girls running over to her.

“Mom!”

“Have you two been good?”

“Why wouldn't we be?”

“Hey, you’re home just in time for dinner!” Nara calls from the kitchen.

Everyone moves to the table, the extra chair a bit wobbly, but Akira didn't mind. They were having plenty of conversation, mostly about Akira's chosen study and what he does for work currently. Yui pokes him, making him look at her.

“When are you gonna marry Goru?”

Goro coughs, flushing bright red. Akira snorted, covering his mouth so he didn't start laughing at Goro's mortified expression.

“That's- uh, that's…” Goro stuttered, hiding his face in his hands.

“Yui.” Nara says fondly, giving her a look, struggling to stop herself from smiling.

“We're still talking about it.”

“Kiri…” His boyfriend mutters, too embarrassed to look at him directly.

The rest of the evening was rather uneventful, Akira being sent home with dark purple nails. Goro grumbles something incoherent as they sat together on the train.

“I think they like me.”

“You're so embarrassing sometimes.”

“She did ask a good question.”

“Mhm. At least she's straightforward.”

“So, Goru…”

Goro gives him a dirty look as Akira smirks.

“You're the only person besides those two allowed to call me that.”

“Deal.”

They went to Leblanc’s attic to climb into bed, cuddling and lazily kissing each other before falling asleep.


	2. Proposals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro celebrates his birthday, as well as recieves news of a big life change.

“I just think it would help the three of you get closer.”

Goro glances up at Nara as he’s drying the dishes, his brows knitting together. They've had this conversation before, while they were starting the spring semester. But now that they were almost first-years, officially teenagers, they've had this conversation almost every time he's come home.

“I’m sure they have lots of friends here, Mom. They would miss them if you just took them and placed them in Tokyo for school. Besides, I don’t really have a lot of space and I work nights. I think it might be too much to get used to on top of a new school and the noise of the city.”

“You always say you want to spend more time with them. Besides, they'll only stay during the school year.”

“I don't know… It would be up to them, really.”

“Just give it some thought.”

He sighs, putting a stack of plates away.

“Okay.”

He sits down on the couch after the dishes are done with a sigh. Rea and Yui were just finishing up their schoolwork, working together. He gets up and leans against the doorway, watching them work.

“Hey, are you two sure you're okay with living with me? Won't you miss your friends here?"

They look up at him, Rea tapping her pencil on the table as she thought.

"Well, mom used to move around a lot before she married, so we'll be okay."

"Tokyo's a big place." He replied.

"But you're there, so it'll be okay." Yui said.

"Plus, we'll be back here in the summer, so we'll see our friends then."

“It's gonna be a big move.”

“I've always wanted to see what living in  Tokyo was like.” Yui beamed.

“Hey, we're older now, Goru. You don't need to worry about us.”

“Oh, you know I will be.” He murmurs, trying to play it off as a joke. “Besides, I just want to make sure you guys are okay with it.”

“We are! You worry too much.”

Goro retreats to the living room again. He feels a bit restless, deciding to undo his hair and braid it, needing something to do.

~~~~~~~~

Akira is not even watching the movie anymore, focused on making out with Goro. Goro is jokingly complaining every chance he gets, their choice not really holding their attention. Akira drops his head onto Goro's lap, letting him play with his hair as he stares up at him.

“A month left, and you still haven't told me what you want for your birthday this year.”

“You always get me something anyway.”

“Just ask for anything. Seriously. I will do my best.”

Goro hummed in thought.

“Well, I could always use more fabric. Sewing supplies. Time with my wonderful boyfriend.”

“Now you're just flattering me.”

“Is it working?”

Akira sits up to kiss Goro again.

“I'll take that as a yes.”

Akira moves to sit in his lap, going back to their makeout session, the end credits rolling unnoticed.

~~~~~~

“Goru!”

Yui reaches him first, hugging tightly and nearly knocking him over. Rea pulls Yui away to hug him too, Goro laughing.

“Are you surprised?” Sanako laughed as the two of them approached.

“I am. What are all of you doing here?”

“Happy early birthday to the birthday boy.” Nara chirps.

“You guys came up for my birthday?”

“You always come for our birthday.” Rea grabs his hand. “I wanna meet your friends!”

“Well, um, gotta see who's around, hut we can go to Leblanc. Akira is usually working.”

“Hey, we're gonna meet you there later. We have to make sure the room is ready for us.”

He was, but Ann, Futaba and Ryuji were also there, so at least they could meet some of his friends. He opens the door, smiling as Akira looks up at the bell ring.

“Hey babe! And whoa, the whole family's here.”

“Where's Sojiro-san?”

“Out. He trusts me.”

“Hey dude.” Ryuji straightens up a bit.

Rea gasps.

“Goro! How could you?! You didn't tell me you're friends with Takamaki Ann!”

She beelines for the empty seat across from Ann, starstruck. Yui is a bit shocked herself. Futaba is surprised at the new people, retreating behind Akira.

“Can I please have your autograph, Takamaki-san?”

“Oh, sure. You can just call me Ann.”

“How can someone as lame as our brother know a model?” Yui smirks at Goro.

“Hey, don't be rude to me on my birthday.”

“Your birthday isn't until tomorrow, I can be as rude as I want.”

Ryuji snorted. Futaba grins at the joke.

“Yui, Rea, this is Ann, Futaba and Ryuji. You two have already met Akira.”

“You guys want anything? Where's your moms?”

“They're checking in right now. For someone's birthday.”

“Do you have soda?” Yui asked.

Akira grabs a soda from the fridge for her, handing it to her right before Nara and Sanako walk in.

“Hey Akira, good to see you again.”  


They talk for some time before they have to drag Rea away from Ann so they could see Shujin and Goro's apartment. He unlocks the door for them, letting them go in first. It was a small place, the futon pushed against one wall with a tiny kitchen with a small table.  Fabric bolts were scattered throughout, a half finished project on the table.

“It's not very big, and kind of a mess right now.”

“Perhaps with a little bit of rearranging it could work.”

“That's if they want to go to Shu-”

“We get to live with you?? That'd be so cool!” Yui cut him off, making him sigh.

“Can we live with you?”

“I don't know… this is a big move.” Sanako crossed her arms, worried.

Goro was silently relieved he wasn't the only one in this family worried over this.

“We will talk more about it. Still have to actually visit the school to see what you two think, but I think this will be good for the three of you.”

Goro exchanged a glance with Sanako. He still wasn't sure, but seeing that Nara would be happy with the arrangement was making him have second thoughts.

“You guys said you have a surprise for me?”

“Yes. We're going to take you out to dinner tonight. We figured you and your boyfriend want to do something tomorrow night.”

“Oh, okay. I know a few places.”

The five of them go out to a nicer place than he usually went to, but still good. The four of them decided to retire for the night, wanting to get up early enough to spend the day with him. Goro saw them off at the train station, then waited for Akira. The two walked hand in hand for a while before going back to his apartment, enjoying each other's company.

~~~~~~~

Akira broke away from their kiss, rubbing his thumbs on his hips, Goro pressing him into the futon, sitting on his lap.

“Would… would it be a bad time to talk about our future?” Akira ventured.

“No. What's up?”

“We don't have to have a wedding right away, but would it freak you out if we got engaged?”

“I mean, I won't be angry at you if that's what you're asking. But we still haven't really agreed on a name, have we?”

“I know you were talking about taking my name if we married because you hated yours," Akira starts, pausing as Goro shifts in his lap to lock eyes with him. "But I never really liked my name either."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Because you seemed happier trying out my name.”

“You could've told me you didn't like your name.”

“But can we switch to Hamasaki? You seem so much happier to say your own name now, and Hamasaki Akira sounds better to me."

"Hamasaki Akira, hm?"

"Oh, it's so much better when you say it." His voice slid into a deeper tone, brushing his lips against Goro's neck.

"Kiri..." He murmured, blushing.

"What? It's true!"

"I... I like it too, actually."

“I can't wait until I get to share your name.”

Goro grins, kissing him deeply. Akira pulls him closer, leaving the conversation at that.

~~~~~~~

“-Happy birthday to you!”

Goro blows out the candles on his cake, helping Haru to pick the candles off of it afterwards so Akira could cut into it. Leblanc was full of activity, his family there as well as all his friends. Akira was pressed into his side  hands intertwined.

“Twenty-three years old, huh?” Akira pulled their hands closer to him on the table, teasing him. “Old man.”

“Yeah, yeah, young punk.”

“Hey, cut the cake already.” Ryuji grinned.

“Alright, alright. Sheesh.”

Akira stood up to cut it better, putting slices on the plates Haru handed to him. Yui and Rea seemed to fit right in, Sojiro talking warmly with their mothers as they crowded the little place.

_I could get used to this._

Nara sat down across from him when a spot opened up. Yui and Rea were busy talking to Ann and Makoto.

“Have you decided?”

“Well, I think I could handle having my sisters for the school year. With help getting the apartment ready, of course.”

“Good to hear. Now it's on those two.”

Nara smiled, giving his wrist a light touch. Goro smiled back, but he was still reluctant.

~~~~~~

“Hey, you okay?”

Goro looked up from his plate, caught pushing and picking at his dinner. Akira took him to a nice restaurant, insisting on treating him to whatever he wanted.

“I'm just overthinking. I… my mom has asked me if I wanted to have the girls move in with me if they end up deciding to go to Shujin. But… I don't think I'll be very good at that.”

“But you're plenty responsible, babe.”

“I just worry about stepping on their toes.”

“You've got this. And besides, it's only if they decide to go to school here. You keep saying you want to get closer to them all the time.”

“I know.” Goro sighs, deciding to dig into his food. “It's just a big change.”

“Hey, you can always ask me to help out.” Akira grabs his hand, giving it a squeeze. “You're not alone.”

“Thanks.”

Goro flashes him a grin. Akira decided to not push him in order to let him enjoy the rest of their date.

~~~~~~~

Goro hears his phone ring, quickly answering and shoving it against his ear so he didn't overcook his dinner.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Goro.”

“Hi mom, what's up? Do you need help sewing again?”

“No, no. Not this week. I just wanted to tell you that the girls have made a decision.”

“Oh?”

“They want to go to Shujin.”

Goro nearly tips the whole frying pan over, catching it, giving himself a small burn. He hissed through his teeth as he put it back.

“Really? What about their friends?”

“They said it won't be as bad since they'll be back for the summer. And that they would get to see you more often.”

“Mooom.”  He heard Rea grumble in the background.

“That's great.” He heard his voice drop in the middle, hoping she didn't catch it.

“I can try to get up there this weekend if you'd like so I can help you set up.”

“Yes, that would be nice. Uh, I'll see you soon?”

“Yes, see you soon. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Goro drops his phone onto the table, turning off the heat. He plates his food, deciding to text Akira before he eats. He taps on the table with his free hand, lost in thought.

~~~~~~

Akira leans against the wall, watching his boyfriend making small adjustments to the furniture. Nara had already left, having helped buy and move a couple of cots, a small dresser, a privacy screen and some extra sheets and blankets into the apartment. His futon was shoved against a different wall, trying to make enough space.

“Babe, it'll be fine where it is.”

“Just a little more to the left, I think.”

Gror grunts as he pushes one of the cots, part of it scraping against the floor.  Akira crosses the room as he stares at the cot again, puzzling, fretful. He wraps an arm around his waist, kissing his cheek.

“Hey, c'mon. Let's take a shower and go out to eat somewhere, my treat.”

“Kiri, you already treated me for my birthday a few weeks ago.”

“And? Am I not allowed to spoil my beautiful boyfriend?”

Goro smiles and turns, wrapping his arms around his neck. He kissed Akira, swaying slightly.

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“Come on. Shower first.”

Akira pulls him into the bathroom, both stripping. Goro turns the water on, letting the water warm up.

“This bathroom is gonna be a nightmare with three of us.” He muttered, stepping in.

Akira followed after taking off his glasses, tracing along Goro's skin as he undoes his ponytail and tosses the hair tie into the sink. He still can't believe that six years later, the scar running from halfway down his back up to in between Goro's shoulder blades was still so dark.  He was made aware of his own as Goro traced some of them, dark burns wrapping around his neck and waist and down and around his arms and legs like vines. He shivers as Goro presses into him, planting kisses on his neck and entangling fingers in his hair.  


It was a lovely night in the park, a warm breeze blowing Goro's hair perfectly. They had moved off the more popular paths, sitting on a fence. Akira ran his thumb over the object in his pocket to soothe his nerves. Goro was gazing up at the night sky, a pleasant smile on his face.

“Thank you for your help today. You being there made me less nervous.”

“You're welcome, babe.”

They fell into a comfortable silence as Akira struggled on what to say. He decided to just go for it, pulling his hand out of his pocket.

“I want to let you know that I love and appreciate you. And through all our ups and downs, I couldn't ask for a better partner to experience all of that with. And,” Akira kneels down in front of him, box held out, opening to reveal the ring. “I want to start a new chapter of our adventures together. Will you marry me?”

Goro was stunned for a moment, getting up and kneeling down. He cups Akira's face, smiling ear to ear.

“You're such a dork. Of course I will.”

He pulls Akira in for a hug, Akira hugging back. Goro pulls back and lets Akira put the ring on his finger. It was a silver ring, engraved with an ivy motif, a small sapphire set into the ring itself. Goro admires it for a moment.

“So, what happened to the gaudy ring you were planning to get me?” He joked, brushing some hair out of Akira's face.

“You really think I'd go through with that?”

“You do like to surprise me.”

“Mhm. I'm not that mean.”

Akira kisses him before helping him up. Goro leans into him as they start walking back to his apartment, elated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some sibling craziness soonish.


	3. First Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer is coming to a close, with Goro and the twins living together temporarily before they actually move in to see how it works out. Akira and Goro talk a little more about their future.

“Oh, okay, um, I still have to get you two copies of the key, but, uh, make yourself at home.”

Goro was a whirlwind of nervous activity, helping the twins to move in and unpack stuff. He still couldn't believe this was really happening. Nara had decided the two of them should live with him for a couple weeks before school started back home, to see how they got along.

“Goro, relax. We have a whole weekend to get stuff done.” Yui grabbed his wrist, making him stop. 

“I'm just trying to get it done so we don't have to do it la-” 

His alarm went off, dismissing it on his phone and going to search for his medicine. It was in his little black backpack, as usual. He stood over the sink, shaking out two pills into his hand.

“It's just the small stuff anyway. We don't need your help with that.” Rea chimed in, sitting in front of the dresser with a bag of clothes next to her, putting them away.

He poured himself a glass of water, taking the black pills. He downs the rest of the water after he swallows the pills, placing the glass into the sink.

“I just won't have time tonight, I'm working. I don't want to worry about accidentally locking you out.”

He stares at the contents of the pill bottle before closing it and throwing it back i to his bag. Joker was currently sitting on the table, wearing a green dress with a red glitter ribbon on his head. Goro picks up the stuffed crow and shoves him into his bag as well, putting it on a chair.

“Ah, gotta get more medicine soon.” He muttered. “Gotta call Takemi.”

“We're fourteen, Goro. We can handle it.”

“... I know you guys can. Sorry, just worried.”

He feels one of them hug him.

“Come on, we're mature.  And we have you. You still have to show us around, remember?” Yui says into his side.

He pats one of her hands before he turns gives her a sideways hug.

“How about we do that today, give you two a break from the whole moving thing?”

“Thought you'd never ask!”

Rea jumps up from her spot, bag half-emptied. Goro zips his bag up and slings it over his shoulders, locking the door behind the three of them.

~~~~~~~

“Can we come to the beach too? Can we?” Yui asked, leaning into her brother.

“Yes, of course. Do you really think I would leave you two behind?”

“I mean…” 

“Rea…”

Akira laughs as he does the dishes, sneaking a peek at the three of them. He's never seen Goro this happy before. 

“Do you two need bathing suits? Because-”

“If anything, Ann and I can take them, Goro.” Haru interrupted, smiling.

“I could go shopping with Takamaki-san??” Rea lit up, excited.

“We didn't bring our bathing suits anyway, they were a little small.”

Akira put the last of the dishes away, taking the apron off and joining them. He held Goro's hand, rubbing little circles into it. He was wearing the matching band, still in a bit of disbelief that they were engaged.

“Aw, you got him a pretty ring.” Rea cooed. “When's the wedding?”

“Uh, we… haven't decided yet…” Goro blushed softly.

“Some time after I graduate was the plan.”

“Have you started planning anything?” Yui asked.

“Not really…”

“What?! Come on, Goro! You can plan outfits for your bird but you're not even planning for your own wedding?”

“Hey, that's different.”

He was flustered.

“Not even what you're gonna wear?”

“I…"

“Girls, lay off your brother. It's partly my fault anyway, we still don't know how fancy our wedding is gonna be.” Akira defended him, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand.

“Next time you come home you're getting a bunch of mom's old wedding magazines.”

“... The two of you are so embarrassing.”

“Says the one who hasn't even thought about his own wedding.”

“We have! Just haven't decided yet.”

Goro hides his face with his other hand, bright red.    
  


The beach was packed, but they managed to find a spot for all of them. The girls were having a good time. Goro was laid out next to Akira's chair, dozing off. Rea and Yui came back with a bucket, putting a finger to their lips as they snuck up on their brother. Morgana got out of the way before they dumped water on him, making him yelp.

“Hey!”

Goro scrambled after the two giggling twins, who ran back towards the shoreline, their bucket forgotten. Akira laughed, getting up and following them. The girls had jumped into the water again, Goro standing on the shore.

“I'm gonna get you two back for that!” He shouted at them.

“Come and get us!” Yui shouted back.

Akira saw his nervousness as he stepped into the water ankle-deep. He moved to his side, worried.

“Hey, you okay babe?”

“Uh, I'm just gonna go back in. I'll get them back later.” 

Goro started going back to the shore.

“Boo! Wimp!” Rea called after him.

“Yeah, sleep with one open, girls!” He shot back.

Akira snorted. He turned and waded in, splashing around with the girls and having a good time. He saw Goro had come back to the shoreline to watch them, waving at Akira. Makoto and Ryuji joined him, watching before Ryuji came in as well, tackling Akira into the water. They played around for some time, before Yui got a mischievous smile on her face.

“Hey, maybe we should drag him in here.” Yui stage-whispered to them.

“Oh my gosh, that would be funny if we threw him in.”

“Uh, just be careful.” Akira said.

The four of them left the water, Yui and Rea hooking their arms around Goro akd started to drag him in. Akira froze when he saw the look of panic on his face.

“No no no! Don't! I-!” 

“Come on, the water's fine!” 

“Girls wait!”

Goro broke out of their grasp, backing up quickly. 

“Goru, you're being a baby, it's not that cold.”

“I… I can't swim.”

They stared for a moment, shocked. He turned away, embarrassed now. He ran back to the blanket. Akira followed him, leaving the four of them at the shore. Goro stole his chair, sitting on the edge, arms crossed. 

“What's wrong?”

Akira cupped the sides of his face gently, making him look at him. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Yui asked from behind him.

Akira turned to see the girls behind him, apologetic.

“I'm afraid of the ocean.” He admitted. “I never learned how to swim.”

He was bright red. Akira sat down the chair, wrapping him in a hug.

“Oh. Uh, sorry.” Rea apologized.

“It's alright. You two didn't know. But, uh, don't let me stop you two from having fun. I'll be fine.”

The twins headed back towards the water, quietly talking with each other. Akira nuzzled his neck, trying to cheer him up.

“Then why come?”

“I like hanging out with you guys.”

Akira decided not to push the matter any further, working on calming him down.   
  


By the end of the day, everyone was relaxed and happy. On the train back home, the girls dozed off on Goro's shoulders, Goro quietly snaking a hand around Rea's shoulders to hold Akira's hand. He ran his thumb over the back of his hand, lost in thought.

“You sure you're okay?”

“I'm fine Akira. Just a little scare.”

Goro shook the twins awake as they approached their stop.

“Did you two have fun?”

“Of course we did!”

Akira walked the three of them back to their apartment, kissing Goro goodnight. He felt his hand grabbed, turning to see it was Goro holding him.

“Do you want to stay over?”

“I'd love to.” 

Once they were settled down for the night, Akira kissed him deeply. 

“Ugh, get a room.” Rea joked as she passed them on her way to the bathroom.

“We are in a room.” Goro said.

Akira snorted, burying his face into his neck. He felt Goro thread fingers through his hair, humming in content.

~~~~~~

Goro yawned, stretching as much as he could with Akira half on top of him. He pushed himself up a little, seeing it was just the two of them alone. He got up, carefully climbing over Akira to get to his medicine. He could hear Akira stir after taking the pills, smiling.

“Hey sleepyhead.”

“Mmph. Too early.” Akira grumbled.

“Says the one taking eight ams this upcoming semester.”

Akira huffed, feeling around for his glasses and putting them on. Goro saw a note on the fridge from the girls.

_ Went to get breakfast. Be right back. Rea and Yui <3 _

“Ah, guess it's just the two of us for breakfast.” 

Akira pressed into his back, hands on his hips. He kissed and nibbled on his neck, pushing him up against the counter.

“Can my breakfast be you?” He teased.

“Already with the dirty talk this early, Kiri?” 

Goro turned around, pulling him in for a slow kiss. He was aware his cheeks were red, laughing as Akira proceeded to lift him a little and spin him around.

“It's never too early to enjoy you.” He purred, making out with him.

“Come on, at least eat actual food first.” Goro murmured after they pulled away from each other.

Akira sighed, letting him turn back around to get into the fridge. Goro pulled out the milk, pitting it on the counter, searching for the box of pancake mix in his cabinets.

“You drive a hard bargain.” Akira muttered, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, especially for an old man like me.”

“Oh shush, you're not old.”

“I dunno, twenty-three is pretty old. My bones are so fragile, darling. Oh no, I’m falling.” 

Goro leaned back into Akira, who scrambled to keep him upright, he started to make himself heavier.

“Babe!” Akira was breathlessly laughing.

“I'm falling, I can't stop myself.” He giggled.

Akira grunted as he was pushed into the little separation wall behind him. Goro got up, spinning around.

“Ooo, you okay?”

“I'm fine. Just a little bump.”

“Good. Don't want to hurt my fiance before we marry.” Goro kissed his nose. “Now help me find the bowl.”

“What did you do with it last?”

“I put it away, but with the move I don't remember where.”

“My god, you're like a squirrel who lost his acorns.”

“Oh shush. Like you're any better.”

Akira helps him search for it, putting it on the counter. Goro makes the pancake batter as Akira searches for his skillet.

“You should really get more cooking stuff.”

“Babe, where would I put it? There's not a lot of space as it is.”

Akira places a plate near him on the counter, clearing some of the other stuff off of it. The smell of pancakes filled the apartment pretty quickly, making Goro smile.

“God, do you remember the day we met? You wanted pancakes so bad after Mona mentioned them.”

“Oh yeah, haha. I hadn't eaten all day at that point.”

Goro paused for a moment, lost in memories. 

“Babe? The pancake!” 

He jolted as he felt Akira grab his hand to flip the pancake over for him. It was a little dark, having almost burned.

“Oh, sorry.”

“You okay?”

“Just got distracted for a moment.”

Akira kissed his cheek, looking apologetic.

“Not your fault.”

They heard the door open, the girls chatting away as they came in. Yui had a box in her hands, holding it behind her back.

“Morning girls.” Akira chirped, sitting back down at the table.

“Morning. Pancakes? You shouldn't have.”

“Didn't you two go out to eat this morning?” Goro asked.

“Yeah, but it smells good.”

Yui sat at the table, smiling innocently. Goro rolled his eyes as he plated another pancake. He turned the burner off before bringing the stack over to the table, going back to get plates and utensils. 

“At least let me and Kiri get some first.”

Akira took the plate Goro gave him, piling three pancakes onto it after moving the fork and knife onto the table. Goro grabs two pancakes, digging in. Yui slides the box in front of Goro.

“Hm?”

“Sorry for yesterday. We got you some strawberry mochi.”

“Oh, you didn't have to do that.”

“Just take it, Goru.” 

He smiled, taking the box and throwing it in the freezer.

“I'll have it later, but thank you. What'd you eat for breakfast? Where did you two go?”

Yui and Rea recounted their morning adventures as the two of them ate. 

“Oh, shit. I'm gonna be late for my appointment with Takemi if I don't get going. I'll see you two later tonight, okay?”

“Oh, so soon? See ya later, then.”

“Don't get into too much trouble.”

“We will.” Rea joked. “Now get going.”

Akira and Goro jumped onto the train heading for Yogen-jaya holding hands.

~~~~~~

“You know, you two really should be talking about your wedding more.” Morgana said, watching Akira wash the dishes.

“Look, we will when we have the time.” 

“You aren't going to think about it while you're at school. You'll be too busy.”

“We are at least engaged, okay? You and the twins have been on our backs about it, lately.”

“Have you even looked at the magazines they gave the two of you?”

“No. We're busy people, Morgana.”

Morgana sighed.

“Look, there's lots of people who get engaged and don't marry for years. We're doing okay.”

“If you say so.”

“Why are you suddenly so interested in my marriage?”

“I just don't want you two stressing out over it when it comes.”

“We will talk about it more after I graduate.”

“Mhm.”

Akira sighed.   
  


Akira was behind the counter as Goro and his therapist were talking quietly in a booth. He seemed very relaxed now, which was good. After a while, his therapist got up and left, paying for her coffee, tipping well. Goro goes to sit at the counter as Akira cleans up the table, putting the cup in the sink.

“How are the twins?”

“They left this morning for home. I think it went pretty well.”

“Good to hear.”

“You're going back to school soon, right?”

“Yup. I think my parents will be relieved, since I would be closer to them again.”

“Have you told them we're engaged yet?”

He could see Goro's nervousness. 

“I did. They weren't sure what to make of it. They haven't said anything bad so far, so that's good.”

“Kiri…”

“Look, I've just accepted I'm not gonna not disappoint them anymore after my probation, it's just minimizing their disappointment.”

“That's not healthy.” Goro frowned.

“It's all I can do right now. Until I can move in with you.”

“Are you going to?”

“I mean I hope so. After we get married, of course, I'm not in a rush.”

“I mean, I will let you just… Akira. Are you sure you're okay?”

“I'm managing. It'll get better after we marry, I just know it will.” 

There was a flicker of anger in his fiance's face. Akira leans onto the counter, brushing some stray hair out of Goro's face, the gesture calming him. Goro sighs, closing the distance to give him a chaste kiss.

“Besides, I'll be living at school. They won't mind as long as I call them every week.”

Goro looked worried, cupping his face. Akira pushed into his touch, closing his eyes.

“Just take care of yourself, Akira.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They get along well so far.


	4. New Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins move in with Goro and start their first year at Shujin Academy. Akira is starting his last year of college, a ways out from Tokyo.

“Okay, keys for both of you. Please don't lose them. Um, you two already know I work nights, so I'll try to be quiet when I come in.” 

Goro was flitting about the apartment, rambling, Yui and Rea taking a moment to exchange a look and roll their eyes over it. 

“Goro, we can handle it.” Yui said, stopping him for a moment.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. 

“I know. I'm trying to make sure I don't forget anything.”

“Class doesn't start for a few days.”

“I just want your first day to go smoothly.”

“You worry too much. Give it a rest.”

Goro sighs again, mumbling under his breath. He sat down at the table, focusing on something else.

“We're fifteen, Goro. We aren't little anymore.” Rea said.

He didn't answer, busying himself with putting away and organizing his fabrics. Joker was sat on his lap, Goro being careful not to let the stuffed bird fall to the floor.

“Besides, Shujin isn't even that far.” She continued, annoyed he didn't answer.

Yui looked back down at her phone, texting again. She leaned over to see who she was texting but Yui moved away. Goro glances over, back to his phone and tapping his screen to check something. He starts getting up, the rest of the fabric dropped on the table, Joker shoved in his bag.

“I gotta go. Don't cause too much trouble.”

“Why? Got a hot date?”

“My therapist and work. See you later.”

“Bye Goru.” Yui says, not even looking up.

He's out the door before Rea could get another snide comment in. She stands up, poking Yui's cheek.

“Hey!”

“Come on, stop texting, and let's go somewhere while we still have time.”

“Wanna go to the mall?”

“Tch, you just wanna see if that cute boy is still working at the pastry shop.”

“Yeah so? You think he's cute too. You're the one who wants to go places.”

Rea rolls her eyes at her as she gets up, Yui following suit. Rea pockets her key, the two of them out the door. Yui takes a moment to lock it before they head downstairs, giving a wave to the person at the front desk.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“...I don't know. I hope I'll do okay.” Goro says, running a hand through his hair.

“Seems like they trust you with their care, Goro. Besides, you've come a long way.”

Goro shifts, sitting on the edge of the couch and interlacing his fingers on his lap. His therapist got up, grabbing some papers off her desk before sitting back down.

“Let me tell you, the majority of raising kids is just winging it. It's really silly to not trust yourself when literally almost no one knows what they're doing in the long run.”

Goro shifts again, looking down at his feet.

“I think most of this is just coming from the fact it's a break from your routine, right?”

“Uh… I guess?”

“That's what I thought. Hey, you'll just have to make a new routine.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“So next time, we can talk about that once you really start the new routine. Right now is just easing into it.”

Goro glances at the clock and stands up, smoothing out his shirt. She gives him a reassuring smile.

“You've got this. See you next time.”

“Uh thanks, see you.”

Goro grabs his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and moving to the door. He gives her one last little wave before heading back out. He breathed a little easier once outside, taking a moment to watch people.

_ Maybe I'm worrying about nothing. _

He checks his phone, seeing a new message.

**Takamaki: hey, wann grab din w me? im tired of eatin alone**

**Sure. Where to?**

**Ann: that little cafe in shibuya. meet u there?**

**Meet you there.**

 

Goro ends up getting there first, snatching a booth. The waitress comes by, and he simply orders a water while he waits. Ann comes in a few minutes later, practically collapsing into the seat across from him.

“Uuughh…”

“Long day, I take it?”

“Yeah. Modeling is so hard.”

The waitress comes back and they order food, Ann talking his ear off about the details of her modeling career. He smiles gently as the food gets delivered, nodding along at her most recent complaint.

“So like, I think she's jealous, but she's also new and hasn't really gotten to know me yet.”

“Sheesh. But I can see why.”

“Stop, you're flattering me.” She jokes, her smile genuine. “Besides, how are the twins? They just moved in for real, right?”

“Yeah, like yesterday? Class hasn't started yet, so they have a little time.”

“Well, at least they can settle in before school starts.”

“Mhm.” Goro frowned, poking his food. 

“Worried?”

“Yeah. I mean, I guess we haven't really gotten a routine yet but…”

“Hey, I'm sure you'll do okay. That's all you can really ask for.”

“I just worry about getting overbearing.”

“You're pretty good about that stuff.”

“Yeah, well, they're young still. I mean, I  _ know _ they're fifteen now, Shujin isn't that far away, I know they'll be fine. But they're young girls, and I worry about them being on their own.”

“Come on, those two? They're pretty tough. They have each other as well, they seem to look out for each other. I'm sure you'll do okay.”

“We'll have to see.”

“Yeah, I'm sure once school starts you'll do great.”

They turned the conversation to other things, having a good time until Goro had to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Can't believe we're starting already.” Rea grumbled.

Yui rolled her eyes at her, the two on their way to school. 

“Nervous?”

Rea stopped and stepped off to the side, Yui following suit.

“A little.” Rea admitted, pulling at her collar. “I just hope nothing embarrassing happens on our first day. How’s my hair look?”

“There’s a dead bug in it.”

“Wha!?  _ Where?? _ ” 

Rea looks panicked, patting down her hair. Yui smirks, trying not to laugh in her face.

“I’m kidding, Rea.”

Rea shoves her a little.

“Don’t joke about that!”

“Your hair’s fine you drama queen. Now come on, before we end up late to class.”

The two hurry up to make sure they get to class on time. Time passed slowly for them, the two making a few friends with their classmates. Lunch rolled around, Yui tugging Rea’s arm once she was done eating.

“What?”

“I saw some cute boys earlier. I wanna go check them out. Come with me. Please?”

“Let me finish first.”

Yui pouted the whole time until Rea got up, following Yui. She stopped at a corner, seeing all the other students walk by the other walkways. Yui pointed across from them to a group of taller boys.

“Look at that one.”

“Which one?”

“The one with the blond streak. Cute, right?”

“Sheesh, if you’re gonna bleach your hair, you should go all out.”

“Rea…”

“Okay fine, I  _ guess _ he’s cute. So what?”

“You guess?”

“I don’t know, I can’t really see him from here.”

“Maybe you need glasses?”

“Maybe you need better taste in boys.”

“Like you have any taste in boys.”

Rea rolled her eyes at her, going back to the table with their new friends. Yui followed her, catching up. They chatted with the other girls the rest of their lunch period before they had to go back to class.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello?” Came Goro’s sleepy voice over the phone.

“Hey babe. How’s it going?”

Akira had his phone cradled against his ear with his shoulder, trying to study his book and take notes while on call.

“Uh… Alright, I guess.”

Goro let out a yawn.

“Oh, sorry, did I wake you up from a nap? I can call later if you want?”

“No no no, I miss hearing your voice. How are your classes going?”

Akira couldn’t help but blush a little at that.

“Uh, good, kinda hard but you know, last year. Gotta push through it.”

“You better, I’ll kick your ass.”

Akira snorted.

“I know you can. Oh, the girls moved in right? How is it?”

“Weird, I guess. I haven’t really gotten used to other people in my room I guess.”

“Babe… I’m other people.”

“People other than you. You knew what I meant. You’re not a daily occurrence.”

“Hey, rude. I’m going to be, very soon.”

“It’s only been barely over a month since you left for school. You’re just starting.”

“I will get busy and time will fly and we will be reunited and hopefully we have planned out most of our wedding.”

Goro snorted.

“Yeah, okay. We still haven’t planned out anything.”

“I said hopefully we’d have most of it planned.”

“Well, we should get started on that, shouldn’t we? I’m assuming you’re desperately wanting to prove Mona wrong about not having the time at school?”

“You bet. But, well…”

“Ah, figures. Hey, I can send you pictures of the latest celebrity magazine Rea threw at me. It’s a wedding special.”

“Oh, ahead of the game I see. I thought you didn’t want something extravagant?”

“I don’t. Doesn’t mean I can’t get inspired by rich people weddings, though.”

“Why? Thinking of making our wedding attire?” He joked.

It was quiet for a moment on Goro’s end.

“Wait, seriously?”

“I… was sort of hoping I could surprise you, but, haha…”

“I don’t want you to overwork yourself, especially for  _ our _ wedding.”

“I enjoy sewing, Kiri. I’m really good at it. It’s relaxing, really. Have you told your sister yet?”

“I did. She was really excited. She also told me she wouldn’t forgive me if I don’t invite her to it.”

“You better.”

“Whoa, I’m not that mean to my sister.”

“I know, I know. I’m teasing you.” 

Akira hears a door open on his end, and then the telltale thump of bags being dropped to the floor.

“Hey girls. How was school?”

“It was sooo boring. Who you talking to? What are you making?” Yui’s voice comes over the phone, getting closer.

“Akira and none of your business. Wanna say hi?”

“Hiii Goro’s supposed fiance.” 

“Hey, I am his fiance.”

“That’s debatable.” Rea says, sounding like she was on the other side of the apartment.

“We are going to get married!”

“Plan your wedding then, doofus.”

Goro was snickering on the other end.

“Hey, I should probably hang up so I can get dinner started. I’ll send you some pictures?”

“Yes, please. I would love that.”

“Good luck on your classes, and study hard.”

“Thanks, love you.”

“Love you too.”

Goro hangs up, Akira ending the call on his end and putting the phone down on the table. He readjusted himself, deciding to at least get a little more serious in his note taking. About an hour or so later, Goro sent him several pictures from the aforementioned magazine, Akira using that as an excuse to not start his other classwork right away. There were little notes scribbled in the margins around the photos, the little comments making Akira smile. He got another text from him, scrolling back down to read it.

**Babe: Some of it is SO ugly. Like, very ugly. Rich people ugly.**

Akira giggled.

**babe...**

**B: I’m just saying. Good ideas, poor execution.**

**i know babe i see ur lil notes. cute <3**

**also u startn to sound like ann ^-^**

**B: ….**

**aww no dont be like that its cute <3 <3**

**B: I’ll talk to you soon?**

**hopefully. Soon enough ill be waking up next 2 u every day and i wont have to call u**

**B: Sap. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Love you.**

**love you**

After his work was done, he went out with his friends to eat a late dinner. Later that night, Akira collapsed into his bed, his stuffed cat Crow in his arms, dressed in Goro’s old white thief outfit. He adjusted the little red mask, making sure it fit perfectly, the eyes in the middle of the eye holes. He stroked the fur a little before pulling the blanket over himself.

“Miss you.” He whispered softly, as if Crow could relay that message to Goro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, long time, huh? 
> 
> Life be like that sometimes, and also sort of hit a wall. But I am back to at least working on this story as well as my other one, though not as fast. But yay, three siblings one tiny apartment, two of which are teenagers.


	5. Hard Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls learn a few things about their older brother, things he doesn't want to talk about.

“Mom would let us drink coffee.” Yui protested as Goro came back with sodas for the both of them and water for him.

The cafe was rather empty other than the three of them and Futaba, Sojiro busy cooking his signature curry. Futaba was typing away on her laptop, occasionally glancing over to the homework spread out on the table. He set the sodas down for the both of them, sitting down with a roll of his eyes.

“I brought you here to help you both study, not get addicted to coffee. It’s not good for you.” He answered.

“Bold words from someone who used to drink like at least five cups a day.” Futaba smirked at him.

“Sakura-”

“Wait, you used to drink coffee?! Why won’t you let  _ us  _ drink coffee then?”

Goro sighs, shooting Futaba an exasperated look as she smiled wider. 

“Again, not good for you. Besides, I can't have it anymore. It messes with my medication. You two need to study.”

“But it’s boring…”

“You do it now and you won’t ever have to do it again.”

“Ugh, when did you get so lame?” Rea grumbled, stabbing her math homework to make a point.

“Same time you two did. Do your work.”

Yui and Rea reluctantly started working on their stuff, chatting back and forth with Goro and Futaba. Goro was scrolling through his phone, talking with Futaba and catching up a little with her. Yui taps her eraser on her paper, looking confused, mouthing something to herself. She looks up eventually, partially sliding her book and work over to Goro.

“Hey, can you help me with this? I don’t understand what it wants?”

“Oh, sure.”

He puts down his phone for a moment, looking over the problem and at the sheet. He furrows his brow, looking perplexed. Futaba glances over, seeing his discomfort.

“Uh… Well...” He started, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh, I did that same one. It’s asking for the total average over the years. It’s stupidly long for something simple.” She jumps in, Yui nodding and taking the work back.

“Oh, thanks.”

Goro shoots her a look of gratitude as Yui leans down and starts writing. It continued this way for a while, the twins asking for help from Goro, him giving them a blank stare or half an explanation before Futaba would jump in and save him. The girls stopped asking him, directing their questions to Futaba, leaving Goro blankly staring at the table. Rea touches his wrist gently, concerned when he jumped.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Uh…” Goro brushes a hand through his hair, blinking. “I’m okay, promise.”

He sort of gives them a half-smile, temporarily rescued from further questioning from Sojiro bringing them plates of curry.

“Thank you Sojiro-san!” Yui chirps, pushing her work eagerly to dig in.

Rea stared at Goro, who was gently poking his curry and avoiding her eyes. She started eating, deciding to drop it.

“Can we go to a cat cafe soon? Please?” Yui asked. “I wanna see all the cute kitties! It looks so fun!”

“Huh?”

“C’mon, I heard Aya talking about how her boyfriend took to one. I wanna go too.”

“But you already are at a cat cafe, see?” Goro grins, pointing at Morgana curled up on a stool.

“But Mona doesn't do anything. And isn't as cute.”

“Hey! I'm plenty cute!” Morgana meows from his chair.

Futaba and Goro giggle.

“Maybe when break starts we can go to one.”

“But that's like weeks away. Can’t we go sooner?” 

Yui pouts and gives him puppy-dog eyes. Goro sighs.

“It’s only like two weeks. You’ll survive.”

“But Goroooo…”

Yui pouts even harder. 

“Maybe we can do hot pot instead this week?” He offers.

“Promise?” Rea asks, leaning into him, eyes intense, holding up a pinky.

“Promise.” He says, linking his pinky with hers.

“If you forget we're never gonna let you live it down.”

“I know you won't.”

 

A few days later, Yui seems antsy, sitting down next to Rea, barely on time.

“Did you oversleep?”

“Uh-huh. But I made it. I'm not late.”

Rea sighs, both of them straightening up as the teacher walks in, looking to be in a terrible mood. Classes drone on, their english teacher stopped when a knock sounds on the door. A different teacher is there, apologizing for the interruption, escorting Goro in. He scans the classroom quickly, spotting Yui and holding up a box slightly.

“Yui, you forgot your lunch.”

Yui hides her embarrassment behind her hand, standing up and meeting him halfway, taking it from him.

“Uh, sorry. Thanks.”

“It's not a big deal.” Then, he talks louder, making eye contact with Rea. “Have a good day, you two. See you at home.”

He stops by the teacher, quickly apologizing for the interruption again before he left with his escort. Yui quickly sits back down, shoving the box into her desk. 

 

“Who the hell was that?” Aya questioned, leaning forward.

“Our older brother, Goro.” Yui answers, half picking at her lunch. “We live with him.”

“I can't believe you guys never told us you had a brother.” 

“He's pretty hot, even with whatever the hell is going on with his left eye.” Kiki adds, a soft smile to her face. “God, you had a hot brother and you didn't even want to show us pictures of him??”

“Goro? Pfft, please. He's a huge nerd. He got into an argument about Neo Featherman with his friend the other day about which series is better.” Rea rolls her eyes.

“Still hot. Can you just give me his number?”

“Uh, no, I can't do that.”

“Besides, I wouldn't get your hopes up. He's engaged.” Yui pipes up.

“Aww. Can't believe he's unavailable.” Kiki grumbled.

After eating, Yui quickly slipped off somewhere, Rea deciding to question her later instead of going after her.

“Guess who got Hoshi's number?” Yui sang, bounce in her step as they left school.

“You?”

“Mhm! This day is only getting better. And, Goro promised to take us shopping for hot pot.”

“Oh, that's today?? Almost forgot.”

The twins decide to do their best to hurry home, excited.

~~~~~~~~~~

A stack of coupons is carefully weighed down with scissors as Goro leafs through more flyers. He gets up to check if he still had a suitable pot, poking around his cabinets.

“Ugh, everything is a mess in these cabinets.” He muttered to himself.

He pulled out a couple good contenders, noticing the dust on both and deciding to just wash both of them. The girls could decide later. His phone vibrated on the table, quickly wiping his hand on his shirt to dry it before picking it up and pushing it into his ear with his shoulder.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it's your therapist.”

“Oh hello. Uh. What's up?”

“I was gonna leave a message reminding you I'm going to be out of town for what would be our first session of next month.”

“Oh. Okay, right. Well, thank you for telling me again.”

“No problem. That's all I was calling about, unless you had a quick question?”

“No.”

“Goodbye then. See you in a month.”

“Goodbye. Thank you again.”

She hung up, wiping his hand on his shirt again so he could hang up as well. He saw a barrage of texts from the twins.

**Yui: hot pot!**

**Rea: u promised**

**Yui: were remindin u**

**Rea: not lettin u forgett**

Goro smiles, texting them back.

**Didn't forget. Coupons ready and a pot pulled out.**

He finished washing and drying the pots he pulled out, putting them both on the coffee table. He went back to the flyers, hoping to find some more before the girls came home.   
  


His phone rang, Goro shoving the coupons into Rea's hands. Yui was a few feet away, looking through the meats.

“Hold these.” He muttered as he scrambled to find his phone.

He picked it up, putting a hand back on the cart.

“Hi mom.”

“Hi Goro. Just seeing how the three of you are getting along.” Nara said.

“We're doing fine. School is going okay, right? Yes, and right now we're at the grocery store.”

“So we can do hot pot!” Rea chimed in.

“For hot pot. Um, I think that's the latest with us.”

“That's great! Happy to hear you're doing fine. I was just calling because we miss the three of you. It's nice hearing your voices.”

Yui bounces over, holding up a package.

“Can we get this? Please?”

“If we have a coupon for it.”

“Hey, I should go. Miss you too, mom.”

“Sounds like important work.” Nara jokes, laughing a little. “Alright, I won't keep you too long. I love you, goodbye.”

“Bye, love you too.”

Goro puts his phone away, taking the coupons back. The three of them continue to shop, chatting away.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rea snags a piece of meat Yui was eyeing, earning her a glare. She dips it in the broth, swishing it around until it was cooked enough. She eats it, looking at what else she was going to pick next. She looked up at Goro, remembering a question she had earlier.

“Hey, can I ask you something Goro?”

“What is it?”

“When…” She stopped, thinking on how to word it so it wasn't awful. “I was just wondering why you couldn't help us with our homework the other day?”

“Um… well…”

He stops, grabbing some vegetables and sticking them in the broth. It was obvious he seemed to be avoiding the question.

“... Did you not graduate or something?”

He tenses up, exhaling slowly. He didn't look her in the eye.

“I didn't.” Goro admitted quietly.

“But you're so smart. You know the culprit of every dumb mystery series we watch on tv. I bet you could finish if you went back.” Yui added.

Goro drops the vegetables on the plates in front of him, sighing as he picks them up.

“I'm too old. Besides, I'm way too busy for that.”

“What made you leave school?”

“That's really personal, I don't want to talk about it.” He says sharply, irritated.

It was awkward for a moment or two. Goro pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

“Sorry, I shouldn't snap at you. You didn't know.”

It takes a little bit before they start talking again, turning the subject far away from school. The twins give each other a look, silently acknowledging they won't bring that up again in front of him.   
  


“Oh, who's the blond streak Yui is dragging over here?” Aya comments, glancing over Rea's shoulder.

Rea turns to see her sister dragging over Hoshi, ecstatic. 

“Guys, meet my boyfriend, Hoshi.” Yui practically squeals at them.

“Sup?” 

He grins as the two of them sit down, Yui pushing Rea over much to her annoyance.

“Hi.”

The couple settled in, the regular chatter often distracted by the affections of the other two, making Rea want to gag. She was thankful that Yui and Hoshi weren't in the same class, or that would've been unbearable.

 

A few days later, Rea was surprised Goro was waiting outside Shujin, looking up and smiling at them.

“Hey.”

“Goro? Why are you here?”

“I thought I would surprise the two of you. The cat cafe is… who's that?”

He was looking behind her, Rea turning around to see Yui holding hands with Hoshi. She rolls her eyes as she turns back, hopping down the rest of the steps.

“Oh, Yui's new boyfriend, or whatever.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Goro!” Yui shouts, waving at him.

She bounces down the stairs, Hoshi following closely behind her. Goro exchanges a look with Rea. Hoshi is kinda smug as he grabs Yui's hand again. Goro narrows his eyes.

“Oh hello, I’m Hoshi. You must be Yui's brother, Goro, right?”

“Hamasaki.”

“What?”

“It's Hamasaki to you.” 

“Oh, don't mind him, he's overprotective. See you later?”

“Of course. Bye baby.”

Rea faked gagging as soon as Hoshi turned his back. Yui turned back, frowning at Goro.

“What's wrong with you?”

“He looks like a no-good punk.”

“Sheesh, you sound like a crotchety old man.”

Goro rolls his eyes and starts walking the two of them to the train station.

“So why did you pick us up, grandpa?”

“I mean, I just wanted to surprise you with a trip to a cat cafe.”

“Wait, really?! Yes!”

“I don't know now, I'm a fragile and grumpy old man. Maybe the cats will break my bones.”

“Gorooooo!”

Goro smiles, ruffling Yui's hair. 

“I'm only teasing. I said I would.”

Goro started leading the way to the train station, quickly flanked by the two girls.

“How was school?”

“Meh, it’s school. I’m just glad Hoshi isn’t in our class.” Rea answered.

“You’re just jealous  _ you _ don’t have a boyfriend yet.”

“Am not.”

“Aren’t you a little young to be dating?”

“There’s the old man again.” 

“You should be focusing on school, not boys.”

Yui groans loudly at that, earning a giggle from Rea and an eye roll from Goro. They continue on their way, waiting for the train to pull up.

~~~~~~~~~~

Goro tenses up for a moment, seeing a flicker out of the corner of his eye. Something familiar. Someone he hadn’t seen in person in years. He blinks, pulling himself away from the ghost of Joker’s coat, focusing on not letting the kittens determined to wrap themselves around his neck claw him too badly in their quest. They settle onto his shoulders, mewing loudly as their mom sits in his lap, a loudly purring calico. 

“Awww, how come they all want to perch on you?” Rea pouts slightly, busy playing with the brown tabby trying to battle her shoelaces. 

“I don’t know.”

He takes a few deep breaths, scratching the calico behind her ears, trying to force himself to relax. He moved the kittens onto the ground for a moment, laying down. The kittens scrambled to lie back down on his neck, some other cats coming to investigate. Their waitress stopped by to check on them.

“Oh, they seem to love him! How cute.” She giggled at the sight. “Can I get you three anything else?”

“Can I get a refill please?” Yui asked, a pair of white cat ears on her head.

“Me too? Goro, do you want something?”

“No thanks.”

The biggest, fluffiest cat decides to start kneading his stomach right after the waitress leaves, making him grunt in pain.

“Thanks kitty.” He mumbles, patting it.

He feels another cat lick his cheek, closing his eyes. He quietly wished he could just live here.

“Yui, I think we’ve lost Goro.”

He feels his phone buzz a few moments later, opening to see Rea sent a group text message to him and all of his friends. She had sent a picture of him covered in cats, Yui delighted, her hands together in front of her mouth, palms together.

**Rea: we lost our dear brother today. the cats have claimed him**

**Sakura: F**

**Takamaki: well pray 4 him**

Another buzz, this time a private text from Akira.

**K: how can a gay man get so much pussy**

“ _ Kurusu! _ ” He hisses out loud, mortified.

The girls perk up, surprised.

**Yui: holy shit akira what did u do he just said ur last name out loud**

He clicks back into his private conversation with, his phone buzzing with the explosion of the group chat.

**K: ...babe?**

**I’m going to kill you.**

**K: please wait until after our wedding? Please??**

**You’re going to be sleeping on the fire escape**

**K: baby noooo please dont :(**

Goro huffs, scaring the kittens for a moment. He slowly gets up, trying not to jostle the cats so much. He settles for propping himself up on his forearms, looking at the two girls.

“Tell me about your boyfriend, Yui. Is Hoshi the same year as you?”

“No, he’s a third year.” 

“A third year?”

“But he’s really nice once you get to know him! I swear.”

“Why would he have interest in you?” 

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“He’s a little old for you, isn't he?”

“Well, what about you? I’m sure you were the same way.”

“Actually I was way too busy for romance. So no, I wasn’t.”

“God, you must’ve been the lamest teenager on earth.” Yui huffed, stabbing the remains of her chocolate cake.

“Yeah, yeah. Just be careful, okay?”

“He’s not like that. How dare you.”

Rea groans, putting her face in her hands.

“Can you two not do this here? You’re gonna kill me with embarrassment.”

“I’ll… give him a chance.” Goro muttered.

“You better.”

The three of them got jumped on by a few more cats, getting distracted. The tension was dropped eventually, the cats trying to weasel their way home with the three of them.

 

“Did you two have fun?” Goro asks as the two of them get ready for bed.

“Yeah. I wish we could have cats. The little kittens and their mom seemed to love you.”

“Heh, yeah. No pets allowed, unfortunately.”

Goro sits on the edge of his futon, checking his messages.

**Kurusu: goro baby honey pie sweetie im so sorry :(((**

**K: dont kill me? pretty please?**

**K: ill do anything? babe?**

**Then perish.**

**K: fjaklfalk holy shit**

**Anyway, you coming up for break?**

**K: you knowit ;) …. am i sleepin on the fire escape?**

**No. You don’t deserve to freeze. Anyways see you soon.**

**K: <3**

Goro checks to see if he has everything for work, moving to the closet, putting his bag on the floor to pack the rest of his stuff.

“Goodnight, Goro.” Rea and Yui call out to him as they pass on their way to bed.

“Goodnight girls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quicker update than last time, yay. Also, RIP Akira.


	6. Pushing Boundaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little teenage rebellion and a familiar face or two.

Goro crept back into the apartment with his shoes in his hand, dropping his bag next to his futon. He didn't want to wake the twins up, carefully setting the shoes next to his bag. He slowly unzipped, undressing himself. He snagged his pajamas on his way to the bathroom, intending to wash off the lipstick and go to bed right after a quick shower. The yukata he carefully folded up again and put it in the closet, closing the door. He turned the shower on, letting it warm up as he wiped the lipstick off.

_ God, that felt like a longer shift than usual. _

He untied his ponytail, running a hand through his now free locks. He trailed his fingers down his neck and over his right shoulder, pausing as he got to the jagged, faded scar. He shook his head, shaking himself out of his thoughts before jumping in the shower. His thoughts drifted as he washed himself to get rid of the lingering cigarette smoke, only being pulled back by the dull ache in between his shoulder blades as he turned around. Letting the water run down his back, he stretched his arms out in front of him, trying to make the ache go away to no avail. He rolled his shoulders, only succeeding to spread the ache further down. 

“Ah, one of those days again, huh?” He thought aloud.

He got out after a few more minutes, throwing on his bottoms and calling it a day. He ruffled up his hair with his towel one last time, yawning as he threw the towel over the shower rod to dry. His shirt he didn't bother with, carrying it back to throw it on his bed somewhere.

“That's a lot of scars.” A voice called out to him.

He jumped, whipping around to see Rea by the kitchen sink. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Don't scare me like that.” He scolded softly. “Also, shouldn't you be in bed?”

Rea silently pointed to the empty glass in her hand.

“Oh.”

He watched as she filled her glass, taking a sip. Rea turned around, eyes shining in concern.

“We've never seen your scars before.”

“I don't like making you two worry. Besides, they're all old.”

He couldn't help but touch under his eye, forgetting his audience.

“How old?

“Like a little older than you when I got them. I wasn't really that careful growing up, believe it or not.”

“Lemme guess. You don't want to talk about those either?”

It was quiet again.

“I'm tired, and would like to sleep. Goodnight, Rea.”

“Goodnight then.”

~~~~~~~

Akira could hardly contain his excitement as the train got closer to Tokyo. He was finally able to see Goro again, even if it was just for a few weeks. A buzz in his hand prompted him to check his phone.

**Babe: I have errands to do today. Let me know when you get to Leblanc and I’ll swing by.**

He sent a response immediately.

**will do! <3 **

Akira decided to distract himself by playing games on his phone until his stop came up. He practically bounded off the train, rushing to get to Yogen-Jaya. Futaba pounced on him as soon as he walked in the door, hugging him tight.

“Akira! You’re back!”

“Just for a little bit.”

“Hey kiddo. How are your parents?” Sojiro asked once Futaba let go of Akira.

“Oh, you know how they are. The usual.”

“Well, glad you’re here.”

Akira quickly fired off a text to Goro before running upstairs to unpack his things. It was freezing up in the attic, but he figured Goro would help with that until he had to go to work. He unpacked the bags he brought with him, taking Crow and gently tucking the stuffed siamese into bed, giggling. He takes a picture and sends it to Goro before he heads back downstairs. He figures he’ll let Sojiro work him until his fiancee arrives.

It takes some time before the bell brings in a familiar face.

“Goro!”

Akira practically leaps over the counter to get to him, pulling him into a hug. 

“Hi darling.”

Goro nuzzles him before giving him a quick kiss. Akira steals another kiss from him before tugging him towards the stairs. Goro glances at Futaba and Sojiro, blushing.

“Kiri?”

“You’re so warm and the attic is cold. I want cuddles.” 

Akira pouts for good measure.

“Okay, fine.”

Akira drags him upstairs, looking back to see him shaking his head.

“Thought you were horny, sheesh.” 

“Oh god no. With Sojiro and Futaba there? I’d think they’d kill me.”

Goro puts his bag down, taking out Joker. Joker had Makoto’s thief outfit on. Akira scoffed in an exaggerated way.

“Whaaat? I’m not the favorite anymore?”

“Hey, he needed a change of clothes. See you’ve got the black outfit on Crow.”

“Just for you to see I’m not forgetting about it.”

The two of them settled down, pressed chest to chest. Akira pressed forward to capture his lips in a lazy kiss, pulling back so that their foreheads were touching afterwards.

“How was the last fall semester of your college career?”

“Hey, don’t put it like that.” Akira mumbled. “But it went well enough.”

“That’s good. Don’t slack off now.”

“Heeey…”

Goro grinned.

“I’m only teasing you.”

“How’s life with the girls?”

“Uh, okay? I’m managing. But… nevermind.”

“But what?”

“Yui has a boyfriend now.”

“Oh?”

“A third year named Hoshi. Blond streak in his hair. Looks like a punk.”

“Goro…”

“I don’t get a good feeling from him.”

“Maybe because it’s her first boyfriend?”

Goro fell quiet, snuggling closer.

“God you’re right, this attic is stupidly cold.”

“I don’t know where the space heater went. But, babe, you need to relax a little about the boyfriend thing.”

“He seems off, though. Gut feeling is telling me he’s not good for her.”

“Babe.”

Goro sighs deeply, moving up a little to place his chin on the top of his head.

“I told her I’d give him a chance.” He muttered.

“Sheesh, doesn’t sound too convincing.”

“He’s older than her. By a lot.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

Goro huffs, hugging tighter.

“Goro?”

“Just forget it.”

“Long day?”

“Mhm.”

Akira just drops it for now, sensing he wasn’t in the greatest of moods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rea sighs as Yui rushes off to meet Hoshi for lunch. She sits down, deciding to not even address it and eat her lunch. Unfortunately, Aya and Kiki were nosy.

“Yui really hit it off with him, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Do you see her at all anymore?”

“In class and at home. It’s like she’s completely different now. All she cares about is him.”

Rea rolled her eyes before diving into a different rumor session with the two of them, slightly annoyed at the change in her sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“C’mon Yui. We’re not gonna get caught. Besides, you said your bro works late nights, like he’s gonna know.” Hoshi pressed.

Yui and Hoshi were sitting on a park bench, discussing plans for later that night. Yui frowned in thought.

“The Red Light District though?”

“None of the bars check for ids anyway. We can just go to one, have a couple of drinks and then I can take you home. It’ll be a fun night out with our friends.”

“Um, can I ask Rea if she wants to come too?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“Okay. Meet you at the station later?”

“See you then. I gotta get home before dinner so my parents don’t freak out or anything.”

Hoshi gives her a soft kiss before getting up. They part ways, Yui getting the jitters just thinking about tonight. Once back in the apartment, she dropped her bag dramatically while Rea rolled her eyes at her. Goro glanced up at her.

“I was just wondering what you two wanted to eat. We can go out, take out, whatever you feel like.”

“Can we get chinese takeout?” Yui asked.

“Rea?”

“I don’t care.”

Goro got up, rummaging through a drawer full of menus, tossing a chinese place menu on the table. 

“Tell me what you want and I’ll go pick it up as you two start homework.”

“But Goro…”

“You need to stay on top of your school work.”

“You sound like mom.” Yui grumbled.

Goro rolls his eyes as he comes back to the table with a little notepad and a pen. The three of them order food, Goro leaving some time after to go pick it up. Yui looks up from her work, tapping her pencil on Rea’s sheet to get her attention.

“What?”

“Do you want to come with me tonight? My boyfriend and his friends will all be hanging out, so it won’t just be you, don’t worry.”

“Out? Don’t we have school tomorrow?”

“So? Sheesh, you’re like Goro’s parrot now.”

“Shut up.”   
  


Goro came back with the food, the twins getting their work off the table while Goro set the bag down. They started talking quietly about their days, more focused on the food then anything.

“You’re working tonight, right?” Yui asked.

“Mhm.” Goro swallowed before continuing. “I’ll be back late. I try not to wake you two up when I come back.”

“Not going over to Akira’s?”

“It’d be really late. Besides, his place is a little farther from work than here. It’d just be easier to come home.”

“You’ve been talking about how much you can’t wait to see Akira.”

Goro sighed.

“I do want him to have better sleeping habits than waiting up for me. Besides, I would like to have permission to go sleep over.”

 

They spent another twenty minutes or so before Goro had to go, leaving the twins in the apartment after wishing them good night. Yui puts on a short black skirt, blue tights, and a blue shirt. She puts on soft shade of pink lipstick before stepping out of the bathroom, black hair up in a ponytail.

“Come with me?”

“I’m actually kinda tired, Yu-yu. I’m probably gonna head to bed soon.”

“Boo, you whore.”

“Whatever, slut. Have fun with your boy toy.”

“He’s not my boy toy. I’m going.”

“Bye.”

Yui rolls her eyes at Rea before she leaves, locking the door behind her. She meets Hoshi and his friends at the train station, butterflies in her stomach.

“Hey baby, you look great.” Hoshi said, giving her a kiss before throwing an arm around her shoulders.

Yui let out a small giggle and blushed, brushing stray strands behind her ear. The five of them made their way onto the car and got off at the Red Light District. Yui stayed quiet as Hoshi and his friends debated on where to go. 

“Let’s just go into the first bar. None of these places check anyway, it shouldn’t matter.” Hoshi huffed, rolling his eyes.

Hoshi just marched into the first bar he saw, the rest of them scrambling behind him. Yui glanced at the sign, seeing it was called Crossroads, before she headed inside. The group was debating on what they wanted, Hoshi waving her over. Yui took a look around, seeing two women in Yukata, a larger one in purple stationed behind the bar and talking to some patrons, and a thinner woman in blue moving around with trays of drinks. Yui couldn’t get a good look at the other one’s face, currently at a table near the back and having a conversation with some older men. After some deliberation, Hoshi gently pulls Yui with him up to the bar, preparing to order for the both of them.

"Yui." 

She froze, staring Goro, almost unrecognizable in the blue yukata and lipstick, dead in the eyes.

"Hiii Goru~" she starts, voice sweet. 

Hoshi’s stunned. Her friends start panicking. 

"Don't you start that with me. You know damn well that doesn't work." 

"So, this is where you work, huh?" She glared at him. 

"Lucky you, huh?" 

He lets the other woman know what’s going on, coming back over to them. He put on a higher pitched voice, complete with a fake smile, which just annoyed her.

"Now, what can I get all of you? Soda? Water?" 

"I hate you." Yui hissed at him.    


Goro simply rolls his eyes at her. Yui stays there, knowing Goro won’t let her out of his sight. Her friends ditch her one by one, making up bad excuses to escape Goro's anger, Hoshi the last one to leave. They walk back together, mostly silent. 

"Look, I get it. You think your boyfriend and his friends are cool. But seriously, underage drinking? You’re lucky it was me and not a police officer." 

"You killjoy, you embarrassed me in front of my friends!" 

"Well, tough luck. We’re going straight home.”

Yui felt him grab her hand, holding tightly. He didn’t let go until they got to the apartment, pushing her gently inside and locking the door behind him. He undid his hair, the hair stick held in his fist. Rea sat up, blinking between the two of them. 

“I don’t want you to see him anymore."

“You promised you’d give him a chance!”

“Not when you pull shit like that.”

“Oh, like you told us you go to a bar and crossdress for a living! What the fuck is that anyway?”

“Language. And what I do on my own time is  _ none _ of your business anyway.”

“So why is what  _ I  _ do on  _ my _ own free time any of  _ your  _ business?!”

“You came to my work to try to drink while underage. You think I’m just going to let that slide?” Goro sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, we’ll deal with this later, you have school in the morning. Go to bed.”

“But-”

“Now, Yui.”

Yui slammed the bathroom door to make sure he knew she was mad. She could hear Goro drop his bag on the floor. She angrily scrubbed the lipstick off, glaring at her own reflection. She walked out to see Goro was sitting on the futon, watching her, arms crossed. She shot him a venomous look as she went behind the privacy screen to change into her pjs. She could hear him move, first towards the door, and then to the bathroom, muttering to himself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira watched as his fiance walked in, on the phone, an annoyed look on his face. Akira waved from where he was stationed over the curry, stirring constantly as Sojiro served one of their regulars. 

“No. Look, I’m at Akira’s right now, and you’re at school. I’ll talk to you later.”

Goro hung up with a deep sigh. He finally looked up and saw Akira, waving back to him. 

“Hey kid. How you’ve been?”

“Fine. Need an extra hand today?”

“Up to you. I was gonna make Akira do dishes after he was done.”

Akira sneaks a kiss to his cheek as Goro ties the extra apron behind his back. Goro grins at him before starting on the dishes already in the sink. Akira looks at his troubled expression staring into the sink, getting concerned. 

“How was your day?”

“Okay. Just kinda stressed.”

“Was one of the girls on the phone with you?”

“Mhm.”

Akira could sense he wasn’t really in the mood for talking right now. Akira spooned out a plate of curry for the customer and placed it in front of her. She thanked him before Akira went back over to Goro, starting to dry the dishes for him. It took some time before they could wash the last dishes after the customer leaves. Goro set to work doing that while Sojiro had him sweep the floor. Some time later, Sojiro steps out for a smoke, leaving Goro and Akira to wipe down the tables and counter. Akira looks up as the bell rings, bringing Yui in with it, looking angry.

“Goro.”

“What?” 

“You embarrassed me in front of my friends and now you want to ground me??”

“I don’t  _ want _ to ground you, I  _ am _ grounding you!”

“You can’t ground me!”

They both freeze, thinking about the situation. Akira feels very, very awkward.

“As long as you’re living in  _ my  _ apartment, I can. And I’m grounding you for a week.”

“A week?? That’s not fair!”

“It’s more than fair. You’re lucky I’m not involving mom at all.”

“I don’t have to listen to you!” She snaps at him.

“You’d rather me call mom right now?” Goro snaps back, pulling out his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m calling her right now.”

“Don’t you dare!”

Goro enters a number and looks her dead in the eyes as he puts the phone up to his ear.

“I fucking hate you.”

“Then you’re fine with the week, right?” He asks, putting a hand over the phone.

“Ugh! You’re the fucking worst.” Yui growls at him, storming out.

Goro hangs up and sighs, leaning his elbows on the counter, hand against his forehead. Akira glances between the door and him, confused.

“What was that about?”

“So, funny story. Remember her boyfriend?”

“Uh-huh?”

“She and him and some friends of his went out to go underage drinking last night. Guess where they ended up trying it?”

“Oooo. Wow. While you were working?”

“Yup. So I’m grounding her. I should’ve trusted my gut in the beginning.”

“Goro.”

“What?”

“Look, believe it or not, that’s just stupid teenager stuff. Hell, I tried to sneak out and do that once. Didn’t end well, really.”

“Akira, where are you going with this?”

“Don’t you think that was a little harsh?”

“A week is barely anything, Akira. I  _ do  _ have to be the adult in this situation, you know.”

Sojiro comes back in, looking confused.

“Your sister looks mad.”

“She is. I don’t care.”

“What happened?”

“She’s mad because I grounded her.”

“Huh.” Sojiro simply says as Goro goes back to wiping down the counter.

~~~~~~~~~

Goro shut off the shower, stepping out with a yawn. He locked eyes with his reflection in the mirror, poking and prodding his face. Something felt off to him, and he couldn't quite place it. He rolls his eyes, opening the mirror cabinet to grab his toothbrush. 

_ It's just my face. _

He squeezed a little toothpaste onto the brush, replacing the tube on the shelf before closing the door. He shut the water off before he raised the brush to his mouth, stopping as he saw the mirror. Grey eyes stared back at him over his shoulder, cold arms draping around him. A dead eyed smirk under a white mask.

“Can you fuck off?”

“So cold, detective.” Joker purred, pressing up against him. “And here I thought we could settle our differences?”

“Go the fuck away, Yaldabaoth. You've been dead for seven years.”

“Yet you still think about me.”

Goro turned to throw a punch, instead getting stopped and pressed into the sink. Lips came dangerously close to his, the breath cold over his skin.

“You're so cute when you're like this. At my mercy.”

“Just skip to the part where you fuck off already.”

Yaldabaoth chuckles, forcibly yanking him into a low dip. He let go, Goro falling to the floor.   
  


He jolted awake, his palms stinging, finding himself on the floor. Goro feels his scars itch, rolling onto his side and curling up. He muffled a hiss behind a hand, not wanting to wake the girls up. Thankfully, it passes after a short time, Goro sitting up slowly.

_ God, what time is it? _

He gropes around for his phone, accidentally blinding himself for a second as he checks the time. Four am. He was most likely going to wake up anyway in a few hours. He sighs quietly, crawling back into bed. 

_ Fucking asshole. _

He lies awake, fiddling with the corner of his blanket before realizing Joker also fell to the floor. He feels around for the bird, hugging it close to his chest. 

_ Did I take my medicine last night? _

Goro stares blankly at the wall, trying to remember if he did. He gets up to find where he left his medicine last. It’s sitting by the sink in the kitchen. He opens it, slowly counting the pills left. He does it two more times to make sure he didn't miscount. He starts putting the pills away, going back to bed.

_ I did take it. It’s probably just stress dreams again.  _

He lays back down and  manages to drift back asleep, clutching Joker tightly.

~~~~~~~~~

Akira found Goro was spacing out after he shut off the tv after their movie and he was still staring at it. 

“Hun?”

Goro blinked and straightened up, rubbing the heel of his palm into his eye. 

“Hm?”

“You okay? You were spaced out for a bit.”

“Kinda not the best day, I guess. Sorry.”

“Bad dream?”

“Not really. He's more annoying at this point than anything.”

Goro swings his legs over Akira's lap, resting his head on the back of the couch.

“Need a movie recap?”

He shakes his head. 

“We've seen this one before, remember?”

“When?”

“Before you left for school.”

“Did I fall asleep?”

Akechi grins and nods. Akira pushed his legs off his lap and embraces him, kissing deeply. Goro returns both, pulling him down on top of him. Akira slides his hands under Goro’s shirt, playfully running them along his sides.

“Your hands are cold.” Goro mumbled against his lips.

Goro suddenly grabs his wrists and yanks them up, looking wide-eyed. He looks him over, confused, suspicious, before relaxing again. 

“Babe?”

“Sorry. Just confirming.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Uh…”

Akira pulls back, concerned. 

“You don’t have to tell me if it upsets you.”

Goro sighed.

“I’ve just been stressed lately. I am taking my meds, though.”

“What do you usually do to de-stress?”

“Huh? Oh. Usually I go climbing, but I haven’t been able to go lately.”

“I mean, I can think of one other way you can de-stress.” 

Akira grins, leaning into his neck. He trails his fingers up the back of his neck, giving light kisses to the side of it. He gently nips the skin, getting a half-muffled squeak from Goro. He sees Goro blushing, making him smile wider.

“No where visible, please.”

Akira pulls away to let Goro take off his own shirt. Akira leaves a hickey under his collarbone, getting his hair tugged in response. Akira gently grinds against him, enjoying the little whine he pulls from Goro as he pulls away. Akira gets up, face above his, fingers lightly touching his waist. Goro huffs, grabbing the front of his shirt.

“Tease.” Goro says before pulling him down for another kiss.

Akira pulls back as Goro starts tugging at his shirt, helping him get it off and throwing it on top of the other shirt they discarded. Akira went back to grinding against him, getting excited. They pulled away from each other as Goro’s phone started ringing, making him sigh. He glanced at it, gave Akira an apologetic look, and then answered.

“Hey Rea, what is it?”

Goro looked confused. 

“Isn’t that tomorrow? Today? Shit. Yes I’m at Akira’s. Give me some time.”

He hung up, Akira getting off of him as he gestured to get off. 

“What’s up?”

“Rea’s doctor appointment. I need to be there. Sorry.” 

“I can go with you.”

“It’s a little out of your way though.”

“I don’t care. I’ll wait for you to be done.”

Goro is already throwing on a shirt and wrestling to get his shoes back on. Akira follows suit, the two running off to the train station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello! It's been a while. Uuh, life is hard and writing is too. So here's this.


	7. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite being stressed out, he still tries to be who his sisters need him to be, especially at this time of the year. Unfortunately, despite the strides he's made since then, Goro's past -and temper- rears its ugly head.

“Sapph?”

Goro blinks, turning to Lala. He just caught the water pitcher before it overfilled the glass he was pouring for Ohya. He gingerly set the pitcher down before he could spill it.

“Are you feeling alright? You look exhausted.”

“Maybe you should take some time off.” Ohya chimed in.

“I’m fine. Just stressed.”

“Hamasaki.”

Goro sighed, knowing the jig was up. Very rarely did Lala use his name at work, especially in front of other people.

“I’m worried Yui’s boyfriend might get her into something… worse than the other night. And she hates me for me not wanting her to see him anymore.”

“Ah, teenagers.” Ohya mutters, shaking her head.

“If I can just make it until the end of this coming semester, they’ll be going home again.” 

“You should talk to your mother about this, let her know you aren't feeling up to this.” Lala said, gently touching his wrist.

“I already said I would.” He sighed. “It's only temporary, after all. I can do it.”

“If you say so.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’ll be fun. And your brother won’t be there to ruin it this time.” Hoshi said, squeezing her hand and smiling gently.

Yui squeezed his hand back, leaning against him. They were out watching the ducks swim around.

“And you said it was gonna be a big party, right?”

“Of course! A lotta people are gonna be there. Like half the school will be there.” 

“Of course I’ll go. It sounds like fun.”

The two were slow to separate from each other. Yui came home to Goro dozing off at the kitchen table, project half finished in front of him. There were small bits of metal in his braid that shined in the light.

“Goro.”

“Hm? Oh, hey. Welcome home.” He yawned before starting to get stuff off the table. “Hungry?”

“Not really, I can wait for Rea. What's with the braid?”

“Oh, Ann got me some hair beads and I wanted to try them. How was school?”

“Fine.”

Goro sat back down, head in his hand. He looked exhausted. Even if she was still mad at him, how pale he was made her worry.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just stress.”

“Are you going to work today? Because you look sick.”

“Well yeah. I'm not sick, I swear. I'm fine.” 

His smile seemed strained.

“Okay.” 

Yui said nothing else, sitting down and going through her phone. She didn’t look up until Rea came in.

“Hey, can we do something with you soon? Please? We haven’t done anything since New Year’s.”

“Oh, um, I can try to see if I can make time. It’s been really busy at work lately. It always is this time of year. It should die down soon enough though.”

He got up to start dinner, saying nothing else. They stayed to safe topics while they ate, not wanting to raise the underlying tension between them. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Akira watched Goro slowly fall asleep doing the crossword puzzle in front of him, concerned. After the other couple left, he goes over to gently tap his shoulder.

“Mn?”

“You know you can go upstairs and take a nap on the bed if you want.”

“Oh, did I fall asleep? Sorry.” He mumbled, rubbing his eye.

“Are you okay?”

“Just tired. I'll be alright.”

“You seem to be more tired than usual.”

Goro sighed, tapping the pencil on the book.

“Just stressed is all. I feel bad because I haven't really done much with the girls for a while. And Rea wants to soon.”

Akira sat down across from him, holding his free hand. 

“I’m sure you’ve explained why you haven’t been able to lately.” 

“I just feel guilty about it. They have their friends so it's not like they're doing nothing, but…” He sighed, twirling his braid around his finger. “This is hard.”

Akira squeezed his hand. Goro shifted to interlace their fingers, leaning forward to put his head in his other hand.

“You’re going back to school soon, right?”

“Mhm. Just finished packing last night. I’m gonna get up here for Golden Week though.”

“Are your parents gonna be okay with that?”

“It’ll be fine. They know Sojiro keeps me out of trouble.”

He frowned at him in concern. Akira patted the back of his hand reassuringly. Eventually they got up once Sojiro came back for the rest of the day, going upstairs. Goro practically collapsed onto the bed once he got his shoes off. Akira settled down next to him, hearing him snore after a few minutes. Akira smiled, pulling the blanket over both of them. He was going to miss this at school.

_ But soon enough, this will be a reality. _

~~~~~~~~~~

“There’s a lot of people here.” Yui murmurs, squeezing Hoshi’s hand. 

There were a lot of students everywhere, laughing and shouting and having a good time. It was rather lively for a Sunday night. Hoshi started pulling her toward the house, a big grin on his face. 

“I mean, yeah. It’s supposed to be a big party! It’ll be fun, let’s go in for a bit. I think someone set up a little karaoke machine too, I can hear the singing from here.”

Yui glanced around as she was pulled along, catching a couple of familiar faces.

_ Is that Aya and Rea? _

She had no time to dwell on it, someone accidentally bumping into her as she was guided to where everyone was gathered for drinks and snacks. The next room over, she could see some people were singing.  Hoshi let go of her hand for a moment.

“I’ll get some drinks for us, okay? I’ll be right back.”

She gets sort of half pushed, half guided to the doorway of the other room, watching others sing and dance. She smiled, wishing she was brave enough to do that in front of other people. Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned to see Hoshi, who handed her a cup. 

“Looks fun, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’m not brave enough to sing in front of other people.” Yui said, sipping her drink.

It was really sweet and made her head feel a little lighter.

“I’m sure you have a great voice.” Hoshi says, kissing her cheek.

“Aw, stop.” Yui giggled and blushes slightly, hiding her smile with her cup. 

“No, come on. Let’s at least go in. Maybe you’ll get the courage then.” He says, corralling her inside.

Yui giggled again and let him guide her, the two watching as karaoke continued and somewhat half singing along in the background. The more she drank, the better she started to feel.   
  


Another face entered the room after two and a half songs, going right over to them. Rea looked at her in concern. 

“Heyyy Rea. Isn’t this party fun?” Yui slightly slurred, halfway into her third drink.

“Yeah, sure. You okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah of course! I’m next though.” She says, gesturing to the machine.

Hoshi pretty much stuck by her side, only leaving to get her another drink every now and again. Rea hovered nearby, worried but trying not to show it. Hoshi leads her away from the karaoke room and Rea, going into some of the darker hallways. Once out of view he kisses her, backing her up against a wall. His hands trailed down to the top of her skirt, and Yui stiffened.

“Hoshi… wait.”

“Yui, I love you so much.” He mumbled, ignoring her and moving down to grab the edge of her skirt.

“Hoshi stop. I’m not ready for that.” Yui said louder, ducking under his arm to get away.

“Yui, c’mon.” Hoshi said, voice low, grabbing her arm. “You’re my girl and I love you.”

“Leave her alone!” Rea growled, yanking his arm off of her. “C’mon, we’re leaving.” 

Rea started moving fast to get Yui outside, pulling out her phone and calling Goro. Hoshi is stumbling around following them, angry. Rea is trying to lose him in the crowd. They get outside, Rea immediately pulling her towards the road.

“You’re my girlfriend! You have to!” Hoshi yelled after them, pausing just off the steps of the house.

“Not anymore!” Yui yelled back, immediately regretting it. 

Hoshi’s face darkens, slipping back towards the house for a moment. Yui leaned on Rea, close enough for her to hear Goro’s voice on the other end.

“Rea?”

“Goro, please come get us. We’re scared he’s going to do something.”

“Where are you?”

Rea gave him the address, keeping an eye on the house.

“-and please hurry.”

Rea hung up, carrying Yui near the edge of the road, a parked car to their right. Hoshi came back out of the house, looking for them. Luckily, there was still a big enough crowd for him to get through to get to them. Rea pulled her farther away, hoping he wouldn't see them. Hoshi spotted them and started pushing his way through the crowd, glaring at them. They watched Aya also pushing through the crowd to get to them. Hoshi was a bit faster, and they could see he had a knife in his hand. They hear something metallic crash behind them, Goro getting in between them and Hoshi. Hoshi blinked at his sudden appearance, taking a step back.

"Oh look, it's the crossdresser! Prissy little thing." 

Goro ignored him for a moment, turning his head to the twins. 

"Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, but-"

"He won't touch you."

"What, he's going to kick my ass? I bet he weighs like nothing."

Rea pulled Yui behind Goro. Goro glared at him, stepping forward. There was a bit of a crowd now, wondering what was going on. Aya was at the front of the crowd, terrified.

"Bitch. But first, I'm go-" He hissed as he took a swing at Goro. 

In the blink of an eye Goro grabbed him, disarmed him, and slammed him against the car hood in one quick motion. He was holding the knife now, holding it at his throat.

"Are you feeling lucky?" Goro hissed, pressing the knife into his throat. "This is your jugular, right here, you know. I really could just press in slightly and leave you to bleed out." 

Hoshi swallows thickly, frightened. 

"G… Goro?" Rea said behind him. 

Goro glanced over to them, a flicker of realization in his eyes. 

"If I hear you come anywhere near either of my sisters again, I won't hesitate next time." 

Goro gave him a shove into the car for good measure, putting the knife in his pocket. He walked toward them, taking Yui from Rea. Aya shares a scared looked with Rea before backing away into the crowd as Goro rests his other hand on her back.

"Come on, let's go home." 

He carried Yui, the three of them walking to the train station in silence. Rea watched him, seeing that he was extremely stone faced the whole way home. Goro sat Yui down at the table as soon as they got in the apartment. He grabbed the half loaf of bread and a glass of water, placing them in front of her. 

"Yui, here. Eat the bread, drink the water. It won't hurt as much tomorrow if you do." 

His face finally softened, worried. Yui does so, Goro getting more water for her as she starts scarfing down the bread. Rea retreated into the bathroom, trying to piece together what just happened. Her phone dinged, making her jump. She checked it quickly, relieved it was just Aya.

**Aya: r u 2 ok??**

**were fine. got home safe**

She decided to just go to bed and deal with it tomorrow, her thoughts running wild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“-yeah, stomach bug. Wouldn’t want any of her classmates to get sick, so-”

Yui could sort of hear him in the kitchen, feeling herself drift in and out of sleep with a horrible headache. She heard footsteps, then hears a glass being placed next to her. She opened her eyes, seeing his concerned face kneeling by her.

“Feeling okay?” He murmured, feeling her forehead.

“I dunno…”

“I called you out sick. I need to run out and get a few things, but I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

He stood up and turned to leave.

“Hey Goru?”

He stopped, looking at her.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Don’t… worry about it.”

She sat up to grab the water, feeling dizzy. She took a long sip, feeling better, but deciding that she just wanted to go back to sleep. She laid back down, closing her eyes.

 

She woke up again, feeling a lot better than she did in the morning, but confused on what time it was. She sat up, carefully moving to stand. She shuffles into the main room, seeing a bunch of things on the kitchen table. She got closer to look. Green tea, a few small bottles of ginger ale, aspirin, and a note. 

“Out with Ann. I also got a cookies and cream milkshake for you in the freezer, whip cream might have melted a little. -Goro.”

Yui smiled, for now just deciding to make herself some tea for now. She sat down and nursed her tea until he got back.

“Thought you’d still be in bed. Feeling better?”

“Better.”

He sat down, scrolling through his phone. Yui scrambled to find the words to say.

“You were right.”

Goro blinked, putting his phone down and straightening up.

“I… He made me feel special. Maybe I should’ve listened to you.”

“I shouldn’t have tried to not let you go see him.” Goro said.

“You tried to warn me.” She says quietly, putting the cup to her lips to find it empty.

“Do you want more tea?”

“Mhm.”

Goro quietly got up and grabbed the kettle, checking to see if it was hot and if there was still water in it. He filled it up and plugged it in, leaning against the counter as they waited. Yui stared at him, noting how he looked worse than the other day.

“Are you actually okay?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m alright.”

“No, really. You look kinda terrible.”

Goro didn’t respond, pouring the hot water into her cup once the kettle was done. He sat back down, flipping his phone back over to go through it, muttering something to himself.

“Goro.”

He sighed deeply. He looked deeply upset for a brief moment before his face went back to neutral. 

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Yui sighed in return, staring into her tea. They both sat in silence for a few moments.

“Thanks for the milkshake. You didn’t have to.”

He shrugged.

“I wanted to.” 

More silence. Yui drank half her tea before getting up.

“I’m gonna go back to bed.”

“Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yui stayed home, but that didn’t help the rumors that Rea overheard all day at school. Hoshi was nowhere to be found, or at the very least, she never saw him. She paused at the corner, pressing back against the wall as she overheard Hoshi’s friends talking on her way to eat lunch.

“-you believe that guy that showed up? Nearly slit Hoshi’s throat.”

“Insane moves though. Think he does martial arts?”

“His ex girlfriend’s brother, right?” 

“Yeah, Hamasaki. Wonder if he’s like that at home with them.”

“Oh man, now I remember where I’ve seen him! He shows up to my job sometimes, dude’s an insane climber. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even need the rope, he’s that good. Not surprised he could kick Hoshi’s ass.”

Rea decided she heard enough, taking a different way to get to the courtyard.

 

"Are you okay, Rea?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

"Your brother… he... he was terrifying." 

"I... I thought he was going to kill Hoshi for real..."

Rea frowned. Her thoughts ran through that night again, shivering at how cold he looked as he held the knife to Hoshi’s throat.

“I thought so too.” She admitted quietly.

 

Once home, she saw that Yui was asleep, a note on the table.

“Won’t be home until after work. -Goro"

She pulled out her phone, determined.

_ If he won’t tell us about himself… _

She started with a search for his sewing blog, only partly remembering its name. She spent hours going through backlog and archived threads, learning all she could, even going through the comment section. She stumbled upon some sort of fan site, looking at it. 

_ The Case of the Disappearing Detective…? _

 

At the end of her digging, finding her headphones to listen through the final post of the “case”, and thinking back to the picture Nara had of him at home, she realized with growing horror who he really was.

_ Our brother… Is a serial killer. _

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goro slowly looked over the flowers, taking his time. Haru was patiently waiting for him, on the phone. He wanted them to be perfect, and the employee was very helpful. He paid her, thanking her profusely before walking over to Haru. He waited while she finished up her call.

"Well, that's fine then. Goodbye."

She hung up, sighing.

"Trouble?"

"No, just a meeting they wanted me to sit in on. I'm not sure why I agreed, everything is going as expected, so I didn't really need to be listening in."

They stepped onto the train, almost empty past the initial lunch rush. They sat down, Goro playing with the ribbon wrapping on the bouquet.

It was at least an hour later before they got off, Goro leading the way. The graveyard looked lonely and cold during the winter, and Haru stopped near a section when Goro did. She quietly followed him a few steps behind as he found a particular grave. He placed the flowers down gently, standing back up and crossing his arms over his chest. Haru stayed behind to give him some privacy.

"Hi, mama..." He started, digging his nails into his skin.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. No matter how long it's been, he couldn't stop himself from getting emotional.

"Where do I start…?" He mumbled. "A lot has happened since last year."

 

Goro talked at her grave for the next hour, having to pause and breathe before he could continue a few times. He stepped away, making his way back to Haru.

"Ready?"

"Mhm. Let's go."

Goro sat back in the train, slouched forward, hiding himself in his hood. Haru sat next to him silently, going through her phone. 

"Hey, do you still garden?"

"Hm? Oh, I do! It's come a long way from that rooftop garden I started at Shujin."

Goro smiled softly as she talked, asking questions and listening to her talk about the intricacies of gardening and what’s she’s thinking about growing this year. Stepping off back in Tokyo, Goro stopped.

"Hey, I know it was way out of your way and all, so thanks for coming with me."

"You're welcome. It was nice to hang out with you. We should do it more."

"We should. I should get going, though. Talk to you later?" 

"Talk to you later. Take care of yourself."

“Thanks, you too.”

They split up, Goro making his way back home. He sighed, not really having the energy to make dinner. He decided to text the twins before hopping in the shower.

**Is pizza okay?**

**Y: sure**

**R: whatever**

He orders, heading to the shower soon after.

 

"Where'd you go today, then?"

Goro looked up from his phone at Yui, slightly confused.

"You said you might not be back in time for dinner before we left."

"Oh, right." Goro shifted, putting the half eaten slice down. "Just out. I wanted to spend a little time with Okumura-san. Today was her free day."

"Sounds nice."

"Mhm."

The conversation turned to other things, Goro catching Rea staring intently at him.

"What?"

"Can we talk about what you did at that party?"

"Not today, sorry."

"So when?"

"Rea, it's fine. Hoshi is avoiding me, everything is fine."

Goro checked the on his phone, starting to get up.

"So we're just going to ignore he made a death threat?"

"Look, I don't have the time or energy to talk about it, okay? I have to get going. We can talk about it another time." Goro responded shortly as he gathered his work stuff and keys.

"Tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I have to go. I'll see you in the morning, good night."

"But-"

He closed the door, letting out an irritated sigh as soon as he started going downstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goro was much too busy to do much with them, much less see them for long. Plus, Akira had managed to get a three day weekend and came back up after his morning class, so he wanted to go see him whenever he could. Today, Goro went to the cafe to hang out with Akira and their friends, being the one day off they all had together. Yui didn’t mind, as it got him out of the house. Rea on the other hand was fuming for some reason.

“Yui, come with me. Now.” 

“What? Why?”

“It’s about Goro. We need to go talk to him right now.”

Yui was confused, but followed her anyway. Rea stormed into the cafe, Yui behind her. Akira blinked at their entrance, standing up. 

"R-"

"Goro, can I talk to you? Now?" She cut Akira off. 

Goro paused in washing the dishes. 

"About what?" 

"I know who you are. Just admit it." 

They watched him stiffen.

"Look, now is not a good time to talk about that."  He said as he continued with the dishes.

"It’s never a good time to talk about it! You never want to talk about anything! You didn't want to talk about why you never finished school but now i know why, Akechi!" 

"Can we  _ please _ talk about this another time? It's not a good day for me to talk about that." 

"Rea, he said-" 

"How can you not tell us you're a murderer?!" 

Akira froze as Goro whipped around.

"I said now is not a good time to talk about it, so drop it!" He snarled. 

"I can see why no one wanted you." 

"Rea!" 

"Fuck you,  _ bitch _ .” 

They both straightened up in shock.

“You two have always had Sanako, so what would you know what that's like? What the  _ fuck _ would you know?!" He snapped, putting the plate he was holding down hard. 

It shatters and they all jump, Goro going wide-eyed. 

"I have to go." He mumbled, hurriedly grabbing his bag and getting out of there.

"Goro! Wait!" Akira called after him, chasing him to the door. 

All of Akira’s friends walk in utterly confused, blocking Akira's path, about to ask why Goro ran. 

"Rea, how could you say that to him??" Yui yelled at her. "Whats wrong with you?!"

"Our brother is a murderer! He went to jail! How can you not care??" 

"Because he's not like that anymore!" 

Rea stared at her in shock. 

"When did you get so cruel, Rea?"

"I'm going back to the apartment, I’m calling mom, and then I'm going home. Have fun staying with a monster." 

"Sis-" 

"I don’t have siblings anymore!"

Rea stormed out, shoving her way past the Phantom Thieves. Yui covered her mouth and starts crying. 

"Hey, hey hey hey." Haru started, wrapping her into a hug. "It’s okay." 

"What the hell was that about?” Ryuji asked.

"They, uh, found out about Goro." Akira explained, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

Yui pushed Haru away, wiping away her tears. 

"Rea found out. I already knew." 

"Huh?" 

"I'm the one who was following his blog like religiously after all. I saw the whole thing unfold. And Nara still has a picture of him when he was younger."

Yui spied the bird sitting on the counter where Goro left him. 

"Oh, he left Joker behind." She murmurs, picking him up.

She fiddled with the jacket on it, quiet. 

"Would you like some water?" 

"Mhm."

Yui is gently guided to sit down by Haru and Ann. The others solemnly take their seats, watching as Akira puts a glass down in front of her. She couldn't stop shaking.

"Are you okay?" Akira asked gently.

"He's never swore at us like that." Yui said quietly, hugging Joker as she leans forward onto the table. 

Akira moved to pick up the broken plate, being careful not to cut himself. After tossing the pieces in the trash he sat next to her, concerned. Yui took a sip of water, looking around at all of them.

"You guys are the Phantom Thieves, right?" 

They all jolt to attention. 

"How did-??" 

"It's... not hard to figure out after hanging out with all of you for a while after reading his blog. Sorry. I won't tell anyone, if you're worried about that." 

Yui stared at the table for a moment. 

"How could you not tell him you knew?" Futaba asked.

"I... how?" 

They all looked at each other. Yui rubbed Jokers beak in thought. 

"I didn't know how to bring it up. I don't know if our parents know. Just... he didn't seem to want to talk about it. He didn’t wanna say why he never finished school. He didn't even tell us he works at a bar."

"Why didn't you tell Rea?" 

"I don't know how to explain all that. Besides, I can see him trying. He's trying really hard but..." Yui sighs and falls back against the seat. "He hasn't seemed very happy lately..." 

Akira perks up, worried.

"What do you mean?" 

"I don't know. He's just distant. He looks kinda awful, too, but he keeps saying he isn't sick."

"Is he taking his medicine?" Ryuji asked.

"Yup, when he's supposed to." Yui turns Joker around to stare at his face. "I hope he's okay like he says he is."

Akira rubbed circles on her back, Yui leaning into him. She felt comforted, but now she wasn’t sure what to do.

“I want to go give Joker back to him, but I have no idea where he would’ve gone. Besides, I don’t think he’d answer me right now.” She mumbled.

“I can try to text him.” Akira said, pulling out his phone. 

Yui leaned her head on his shoulder as he typed, her thoughts scattered on what to do next.

~~~~~~~~~~

Goro ran all the way to Crossroads, panicking. He stood off to the side once inside, trying to calm himself down. 

"Sapphire?" 

He snapped his head up, seeing Ohya and Lala staring at him. 

"Hey, c'mon. Break room." Lala murmured, gently guiding him into the back. 

He leaned over the sink, starting to cry uncontrollably. Lala leaves for a moment, coming back to drape a cool damp towel over his neck. 

"It’s alright Goro, breathe." 

He turned on the sink after a few minutes, splashing water into his face. 

"What the hell am I doing?" He muttered. "I can't do this."

"Do you need an ear?" 

He opened his mouth to say something, but felt his tongue was too dry. He nodded slowly, splashing more water into his face. 

"Do you want Ohya here? Do you care?" 

"I... don't trust her not to tell..." he croaked. 

"Okay. I can ask her, but it’s your decision. I'll be back."

“Is Sapph okay?” He heard Ohya ask out front.

Goro forced himself to take deep breaths, turning off the sink. He heard them talking before he hears footsteps coming back towards him.

"When are you seeing your therapist?"

"Tomorrow."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No."

"Okay, here's the plan. I'm taking you out somewhere so you can eat, okay? Ohya is coming too, but I've told her that as soon as you say so, she leaves. Is that okay?"

"But what about-"

"I don't care about the bar. You're more important." 

"Okay." He mumbled, wiping away tears. "Okay."

"Come on, let's go."

He let Lala lead him out, Ohya getting up to follow them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow hello it's been forever since I've come back to this. It's been hella stressful for me and life is busy. But this update's done, happy birthday to Goro. Angst...


	8. Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro makes two decisions. 
> 
> One, to give himself some space from the twins, to calm down.
> 
> And two, a choice Yui doesn't agree with, and Rea is all too happy to oblige.

It felt surreal that he was sitting across from Lala and Ohya at the little cafe he usually eats at before work, both concerned over him. Goro stared at the menu, not even reading it, just trying to sort out his thoughts. Beside him on the table, his phone buzzed with a series of texts. He glanced at them, reading from his notifications.

**K: hey r u ok?**

**K: yui is worried about u :c**

**K: hell IM worried about u**

**K: r u safe at least?**

He tried to type out a response several times, getting frustrated and deleting every attempt after a moment or two. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

**nneed tome**

He put his phone face down on the table, giving it an annoyed look when it buzzed again. Someone approached the table, asking something.

"Hey, you gonna order something?" Lala asked.

"Oh. Right."

He just orders the first thing on the menu and fruit tea, handing the menu to the waiter. He stared at the table in front of him, not sure what if he wanted to say anything anymore.They waited quietly, food appearing in front of them soon enough. He poked at his food, having no appetite, lost in thought.

"I know I said I needed an ear, but… I'm not sure how to explain."

"Take your time, Sapph. We're not in a rush."

Goro forced himself to take a bite of his food, sipping his tea afterwards. His thoughts dwelled on what Rea said to him, his horrible thoughts getting louder.

_Maybe I am becoming_ him _..._

"Sapph?"

He quickly rubbed his eye, wiping away tears. He wasn't aware when he started crying.

"Sorry… I… uh…"

He dropped the fork and hid his face in his hands, taking deep breaths.

“You don’t have to talk at all if you can’t do that right now.” Lala said quickly.

“I… I don’t know why I agreed to this in the first place… I barely know how to take care of myself a lot of the time. I wasn’t ready to take care of someone else, let alone my teenage sisters…”

He looked up, immediately filled with guilt with how worried both of them looked. He sank in his seat, trying to make himself smaller.

“What happened?”

“I kept telling them I didn’t want to talk about my past because it’s not a good time for me and… Rea kept pushing, so I snapped at them.” He sighed deeply, dragging his fingers through his loose hair in exasperation. “I… just need some space right now…”

“It’d be for the best if the three of you calmed down.”

Goro picked up the fork again, continuing to poke what was in front of him.

“Do you feel like you can handle work right now?”

“I don’t know… maybe?”

“That’s not a yes, hun.”

“I need something to do for a while. Work would be good.”

“If you’re sure.”

Goro flipped his phone back over, reading Akira's last text.

**K: ur welcome to stay over. just let me know when**

He quickly typed out a response.

**I'll be there after work.**

He takes another bite of his food, starting to finally feel hungry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, it must be pretty bad if he didn’t even bother to type or spell properly.” Akira murmured, frowning.

He sent another text before putting his phone down again. He shifted slightly as Yui sat up again.

“He’s probably not gonna come home tonight, is he?”

"Probably not. Sorry."

Yui put Joker down on the table, making to get up. Akira slid out of the booth to let her out, watching her go through her phone for a moment.

"Then I'll leave Joker here and just head home for now, I think."

"Do you want one of us to walk you back?" Ryuji offered.

She shook her head.

"No, I'll be alright. Thanks though."

They watched as she left before they all slowly exhaled. Akira sat back down, wringing his hands. Morgana hopped off Futaba's shoulders to sit next to Joker, curling his tail around the plush as everyone else looked at each other.

"What did Rea say to him?" Ryuji asked.

"... I can see why no one wanted you."

"She said that?!"

Akira sighed.

"I mean he got so angry he accidentally broke a plate before he ran off, so…" Akira checked his phone for any response. "He seemed on edge even before they got here, though."

"It's January, right? He always seems moodier this month than any other month." Morgana flicked his tail, musing.

"It is. He never wants to do anything this month, so I'm kinda surprised he agreed to come over in the first place." Ann admitted.

"By the sounds of it, Rea was already trying to get him to talk about his past, so he probably wanted to have some distance."

Akira's phone buzzed. He checked it, sighing in relief.

"He said he'll be over after work."

The group gets to talking about other things for the time being as a distraction, catching up with each other. They talk late into the night until they reluctantly start leaving one by one. Ryuji pat Akira's shoulder as he walked by before he left. Futaba and Morgana stayed behind, the three of them talking quieter. It didn't feel very long at all until Goro walked in, stopping as he saw them. Akira stood up, worried.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm… better…"

He shifted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Goro…"

"Fine sure whatever! Is it too much to ask to have my _fucking_ boundaries? But of course I can't have any because I'm Akechi _fucking_ Goro and having boundaries isn't allowed!" He growled.

"Babe… you haven't been Akechi for three years now…"

He blinked in surprise before scowling.

"You know what I meant, okay? I-… I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

Akira let him pass, sharing a confused and concerned glance with the other two.

"What was that?" Morgana muttered.

"Maybe you two should get going. It is late, after all."

The two leave after saying good night. Akira grabs Joker and walks upstairs carefully, trying to gauge his mood from the stairs. His back was to him, laying on the bed.

"Babe?"

Goro sighed, sitting up.

"Sorry…"

Akira sat down on the edge, leaving some space between them. He offers Joker to him, Goro regarding him. Slowly he watched the bird be lifted from his hands. Goro curls up into a ball, hugging tight, looking at him over Joker.

"What do you need from me right now?" Akira asked.

"I… just, your company would be nice, right now."

Akira scooted closer holding out his hand. Goro grabbed it, squeezing tightly. His other hand worked to let down his hair, partly covering his face.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be yelling at you. And I kinda ruined the day, huh?"

"Goro, you didn't ruin anything. We were just worried about you." Akira murmured, brushing away some of his tears. "But what's going on?"

"... I don't want to talk about it right now. I think it'll kill me. My therapist finally came back from her vacation so I'm seeing her tomorrow. So if I'm not up before 12, wake me up."

He eased them both down, wrapping Akira in a hug as they laid there. Akira returned it, kissing his cheek. Goro buried his face into his neck.

"Is something wrong with Hamasaki now?" He ventured. "I mean, they're your family now, and all..."

"It sure doesn't feel like it." Goro mumbled.

Akira decided to stop the conversation there, seeing his distress. He softly ran his fingers through Goro's hair, watching him close his eyes and fall asleep. He felt his phone buzz again, taking it out. He glances at the group chat icons, realizing it's the chat without Goro in it.

**Ann: is everything ok?**

**Futaba: he called himself "akechi fucking goro" so probably not**

**Makoto: Language.**

**F: it qas a direct quote!! mona n akira can back me up!!**

**yeah, he just fell asleep. gonna talk to the twins later to figure out whats happening**

**M: it's too bad we never got to see him. Would've loved to catch up with him.**

Akira tossed his phone away from him, deciding it would be better to try to sleep too.

~~~~~~~~~~

**Akira: how r u?**

Yui paused at the door as Rea went inside. She stepped inside, pushing the door closed with her back.

**he make it there?**

**Ak: ya he went to therapu 2day. i dont think hed go back to you guys yet**

**good. hope he does soon**

**Ak: :/**

**Ak: prob not with rea there. can i ask somethin abt him?**

There was a loud thump as Rea dropped her book on the table, sitting down to do homework. Yui moved from the door to her bed, sitting down.

**?**

**actually maybe i should just text all of u at once? since youll probably tell them anyway**

**Ak: oh sure**

Yui got a message that she was added to a group with everyone but Rea and Goro.

**Ak: is he always this bad in january?**

**idk. i only sorta rmember him visitin once one year but mom said he looked real miserable the whole time he was there. i rmbr nara said it took a lot of convincing to have him come down that year**

**Ryuji: he went out wjth haru the othr day tho ?**

**Haru: oh that. He asked me to. I dont often get the chance to have much time w/ him so i agreed.**

**H: its not liek he was any more talkative w/ me**

**Futaba: whered u guys even go?**

**H: out of respect for his privacy id rather not say**

**i want to help him but idk where to start**

**Ak: thats a question for goro rly**

**ok**

She switched over to the last message from Goro, hesitant after she typed out her message. She sent it, deciding to just get it over with. Yui sighed, leaving her phone to charge on the bed while she joined Rea at the table to do homework.

"So what happened to going home?"

"End of next week. She has to talk to him to make sure."

Yui rolled her eyes at her tone, focusing on biology.

"Why? Are you staying here?"

"I want to finish the year." She replied coolly. "I'm fine staying with _our_ brother."

"Why are you taking his side?"

"Why does that matter to you? I thought I wasn't your sister anymore?"

"But why can't you see how horrible he was? That he refuses to talk about it is suspicious."

"He didn't want to talk about it and you crossed a line!" Yui snapped at her.

They fell into a tense silence, going back to homework. At one point, Yui gave up and went back to check her phone. She saw Goro read the text at least. She went back into the private chat with Akira.

**y did u ask in the first place?**

**Ak: we tried to ask if he was ok after he came back but he got really upset and used his old name in reference to himself**

**Ak: guess he doesnt feel like he belongs :? idk**

Yui started to type out a rebuttal, but stopped. She deleted her message and went to look through her pictures. Of the few pictures she's taken of the three of them, Goro was covering his face or looking away or moved just out of frame in each of them. Any other pictures were of the two of them and Nara and Sanako, but not of him. The only picture of him she can ever remember seeing at home was of him and Nara, the one she used to recognize him from his old blog icon.

_I wonder if mom has any pictures?_

Her phone buzzed before she could text her, and she opened it immediately when she saw it was Goro.

**G: Maybe you should both go home.**

**but i dont want to**

**G: Go. Home.**

Yui took a screenshot and sent it to Akira, crushed. She went back to do the rest of her homework, struggling to focus on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Seriously, Goro. Take some time off or you will make your health worse."

Goro sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he put on a half smile.

"Lala is already threatening to kick me out if I show up tonight, so there's that."

"I knew there was a reason I liked her." His therapist joked lightly. "How's the twins?"

"Uh… not… good." He started, looking down at the floor. "It would be better if they went home soon. For their sake."

She folded her hands in her lap as he began to explain, not saying anything.

"And disrupting their school life would fix this?"

"They wouldn't have to live around, y'know, this…" Goro said, gesturing to himself.

"Rea made you uncomfortable, right?"

"Well, yeah but-"

He stopped when she held up her hand.

"She crossed your boundaries and stirred up trauma. Maybe you didn't react in a "reasonable" way, but you made it clear you weren't comfortable several times before then."

"Which is why they _should_ go home until I can _be_ more reasonable in my reactions. Or… at least… be able to explain a bit..."

Goro leaned back against the wall, rubbing his temple.

"I don't even know what I'm doing still. It's hard to take care of myself a lot of the time but then I decided I could take care of them? What's wrong with me?"

The therapist wrinkled her nose in thought, putting her clipboard back on the desk.

"So what made you agree in the first place?"

"They sounded so… excited and she looked so happy and… I didn't want to disappoint them." Goro wringed his hands as he continued. "I've… hurt her enough…"

"So what now? They just go back home and you never explain?"

"I… I don't know. I want them to hear my side of the story but I don't think they'll accept me anymore afterwards."

They both glanced at the clock, seeing time was almost up.

"Give it some time, think carefully about it. And please eat and rest, okay? Like, actual rest, don't do anything crazy, alright? That can wait until after the next time we see each other, okay?"

"I'll try. Goodbye."

 

Goro slowly made his way back to Leblanc, a new plate in his hands. The bell jingled, and he glanced around the empty cafe.

"Hey kid." Sojiro greeted him softly.

"Hi. Uh," Goro said, handing him the plate, much to his confusion. "I… broke one yesterday. Sorry."

Sojiro blinked, putting it down.

"Are you okay?"

Goro looked away, adjusting his backpack strap. Sojiro put the plate with the others, getting him some water.

"Akira should be back soon, he's just picking up some groceries for me."

Goro took it, nodding. He sat down at the bar for the moment, checking his messages.

**Mom: hey when you get a chance can you call me tonight?**

“Sojiro-san, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“How do you… do, the uh… parenting thing?”

“You aren’t their parent.” Sojiro reminded gently.

“But I am the adult and...” Goro rubbed the back of his neck. “Am... I bad for realizing I can’t take care of them like I said I could?”

“Did something happen?”

"They found out who I was. I wasn't ready to explain right then and there."

Sojiro started to say something, but Akira's entrance interrupted him. He took the groceries out of his hands, moving them to the little kitchen. Akira wraps his arms around Goro, resting his head on his shoulder. Goro smiled and leaned into him, kissing his cheek.

"Hi babe."

"Hey Kiri."

"You working tonight?"

"Nope. Lala said she'll kick me out if I show up today."

“Good. You need the rest.”

Goro frowned, feeling something was up, reaching back to ruffle Akira’s hair. Akira let go so he could get up, following him into a booth.

“You really sending them both home?” Akira asked quietly.

_There it was…_

“I think it’s for the best. I can’t explain everything to them.”

“Huh?”

Goro gave him a look.

“What’s that look for?”

Goro sighed.

“Just… forget it. I can’t take care of them, Akira. That’s all.”

“But Yui wants to stay.”

“She won’t after she knows what I did.” Goro held up his hand as Akira started to protest. “Look, I get it, I get it but this is not the month for that, okay?”

“Then when?”

“After. It’ll be better for me then.”

“You sure?”

Goro frowned, starting to doubt himself again. He leaned back in the booth, slouching.

“Ah, did I say the wrong thing? Sorry.”

“Maybe I should just get it over with. I don’t know. I just know they won’t want to talk to me anymore afterwards.”

Akira reached out for his hand, Goro accepting it. Akira rubbed his thumb over his hand, deep in thought.

“It’s your decision, so I’ll stop pressing you. Anything you want me to do right now?”

Goro leaned over and kissed him gently, brushing his hair out of his face. He pulled him closer, resting his hands on his waist. He pulled back, resting his forehead against his, smiling at the blush creeping across Akira’s face.

“Not particularly.” Goro murmured, dropping the smile after another moment. “I know you want to help, but this is something I need to do on my own. Even if, y’know, they never come to terms with the old me. I just need a little space before I do, though.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira eventually wanted to go lie down and cuddle for a while, Goro agreeing. Goro let himself be tugged upstairs, Akira sighing at Morgana taking up most of the bed. Akira let go to walk over and scoop him up.

“Mona, c’mon. Bed hog.”

“Hey, I’m napping!”

“We wanna use the bed too.”

“We?” Morgana turned in Akira’s arms and blinked as he saw Goro. “Oh, you’re back! Are you okay?”

“I’m alright.” He answered, taking the opportunity to steal the bed as they were wrestling.

“Betrayed by my fiance.” Akira groaned, getting kicked in the face as Morgana jumps from his arms and back onto the bed. “You’re both bed hogs.”

He stuck his tongue out at him as Akira pushed him over as he laid down, giggling. The three finally settled, Morgana sitting on Goro’s chest as Akira snuggled up to him. They were quiet for a while, just enjoying each others’ presence.

“Hey…” Goro started quietly. “Am I... becoming _him_?”

“Him?”

He rolled onto his side, Morgana scrambling to stay unsquished as he turned his back to Akira.

“You know… my father.”

“No! God no!” They both exclaimed at once.

He wrapped his arms around him and squeezed tightly, trying to reassure him.

“You are so much better than him, Goro. Like a thousand times better. You’re making an effort to be a better person. Don’t compare yourself to him.” Mona said.

“It’s hard not to, sometimes.” He admitted. “Especially now with Rea and all…”

“What makes you think you’re becoming him, hun?”

He felt Goro shift onto his back, looking exhausted. Morgana gave up on lying on top of him and moved above their heads.

“It’s just a thought, I guess. Sorry. It’s nice to hear I haven’t sunk to his level yet though, heh.”

He gave him a crooked smile before he sighed. Goro dropped his head onto his shoulder, closing his eyes.

“You don’t have to be sorry about asking for reassurance, you know.”

“Habit.”

Akira gently ran his fingers through his hair, stopping as Goro sat up to undo the braid and lie back down. Akira continued, untangling the strands silently. Eventually, he fell asleep, Akira playing around on his phone for a while, not really tired. A buzz made him nearly drop his phone, checking his messages.

**Yui: is he bck yet? whatd he say**

**hes fine hes next to me rn. he said he needs some space. hell come around**

**Y: if u say so :/**

He put his phone down, dozing off. An alarm startled him some time later, Goro stirring and rubbing his eye. He jabbed at his phone until the alarm went off, yawning. Morgana sighed, jumping over to the desk and stretching.

“Sorry. Sorry.” Goro mumbled as he crawled over him, moving to his bag.

Akira watched him take his medicine, sitting up as Goro stood in front of the mirror, poking at his face. He got up and moved over to him, wrapping his arms around his waist. Akira watched him blink in surprise, turning around to hug back.

"You okay?"

"Just lost in thought is all."

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really, but I'll eat."

"Alright. I'll see if Sojiro will let me make curry right now."

He pulled Goro downstairs, stopping halfway down when Goro let go of his hand.

"Hair." He mumbled, quickly braiding it messily and loosely.

He grabbed Akira’s hand once he was done, continuing downstairs. Akira made a beeline for the pot, making eye contact with Sojiro. He waved him on, Akira starting to prep.

“Hey, can I help?” Goro asked, sheepish. “I promise not to break anything this time.”

Akira tugs him into the kitchen, handing him a knife and some vegetables. Goro was slow to cut up the vegetables, being careful not to cut himself.

"Just think, someday we'll be doing this in our own place." Akira murmured, moving aside to let Goro throw the vegetables in.

"I can’t wait, Kiri." He said softly.

Akira felt him press a kiss to his cheek before he moved back to give him some room to cook.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“C’mon, it’ll be a fun surprise for them, Rea especially.” Ann said, rifling through her bag for her favorite pink shade. “Besides, I never get to hang out with you alone anymore Haru.”

Haru watched her put on the lipstick slowly, checking to make sure she didn’t miss a spot.

“True. Plus, it’d be nice to talk to them to see how they’re feeling. And see Shujin again. It’s silly, I sort of miss the place. Mostly the garden, in my case.”

Ann chuckled, dropping her lipstick back in her bag. They linked arms as they walked to the train station together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this since its finally done and I have the free time.


	9. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rea gets a few more viewpoints of people who know Goro the most.

“Is… is that Takamaki Ann?? The model??” Aya gasped. 

Rea and Yui looked up, shocked to see both Ann and Haru outside the gates. Ann waved at the three of them, Haru adjusting her stance. The twins apologize to Aya before they rush down the steps, confused.

“Ann? Haru? What are you doing here?” Rea asked.

“Came to relive boring school memories, and also pick up you two.”

“We’d thought it’d be nice to treat the two of you.” Haru smiled at them. “So where do you two want to go?” 

“Did Goro send you?”

Yui winced at the ice in Rea’s voice.

“No, he doesn’t even know we’re here.” Haru said.

“So come on, there’s plenty of cute dessert places and such.” Ann chirped, trying to bring the mood back up.

“Ann-chan, dessert isn’t a proper meal.”

Rea eventually smiled as they subconsciously followed Haru to a restaurant, grilling Ann about her recent modeling jobs and the latest trends and what she thinks of them. Yui slid inside the booth, Rea taking a seat on the other side. Haru and Ann sat next to them, Ann across from Haru and next to Yui. Yui looked over the menu, seeing the prices. It was definitely more than average. 

“Uh…” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m treating.” Haru said gently.

Yui looked back down at it, stealing a glance at Rea. She also seemed a bit out of place, shifting awkwardly as she stared at the menu. 

 

“Can I ask why you two are friends with him?” Rea asked, stabbing the last bit of food on her plate.

Ann and Haru exchanged a look, Haru lowering her eyes. Yui sank in her seat at Rea’s insulting tone. Ann straightened up, her face becoming stern.

“Look, I get it. It’s hard to look at him now, knowing who he was in the past. We had our issues with him too, but he’s gotten better.  He used to be such an asshole.”

“Ann.” Haru said.

“He’s doing better, now. And before you two and your parents, he really only had us as his support after we all reconnected again. He… didn’t even want to be friends with us after prison, didn’t even want to see us knowing how he hurt us. He knew he wasn’t ready to see us after only a year out. Akira… sorta screwed that up for him though. It took him time to even get used to us again, after everything we’ve been through together.”

“Everything you’ve been through?”

“He saved us. And, though none of us trusted him, we decided to give him a chance. And then he turned himself in after. We didn’t know what to think, really. He never seemed the type to admit he was wrong at the time. But he’s trying hard to leave the past behind him.” Haru added quietly.

“He was more worried about pushing you two away than he was about himself.”

“So why won’t he admit the truth, if he’s already done it before?”

“Because that’s his decision, you realize that, right?” Ann put her fork down a little harder than she meant to, immediately sighing. “I doubt talking about it would make his mental state better right now. He wanted to make sure to be a good role model for you two, but I don’t really know what lead him into not telling you.”

Rea furrowed her brow in thought, staring at her plate. Yui shifted awkwardly, not sure how to keep the conversation going. Haru and Ann managed to talk about something else, the other two slowly joining in. The mood lightened a little, but she knew Rui didn’t stop mulling it over, even as she participated. 

~~~~~~~

“Look, I  just don’t think it’s working out, mom. I’m… gonna tell them everything, but they should go home. I can’t take care of them.” Goro said, slouching back into Akira’s bedroom wall.

“Are you sure? You’re doing so well with them.”

“Mom, I can’t do this. Please understand...”

“...Okay. Call me again soon?”

“Of course. I…”

“Love you, Goro. Goodbye.”

“...Love you too. Goodbye.”

He hung up with a sigh, tucking loose hairs behind his ear. He got up to go find Akira, busy doing the crossword puzzle. Akira started to get up, Goro making him sit back down as he practically falls on top of him, hugging tightly. Akira wiggles an arm out to hug him back.

“Rough call?”

“She can be a bit… dense, sometimes.”

“So what about the girls?”

“I’m… going to tell them everything. And then… well, I dunno. Guess they can decide for themselves. I still think they should go home.”

“I’m sorry I won’t be there to help.”

“Just finish school, okay? I can ask Sojiro to be there for me, at least, if no one else can.”

He felt Akira kiss his forehead, Goro taking the chance to pluck the pencil out of his fingers to fill in one of the answers.

“Hey.”

“Like you were going to get to it.” 

“I have a method, okay?”

“It’s a shit method.”

Akira lays back in the booth, pulling him with him, making him drop the pencil onto the floor somewhere. 

“Rude.”

Goro smiled and ruffled his hair up, making it more of a mess.

“Come to bed with me, then. And I won’t be as rude.” He teased, getting up.

Akira followed him upstairs, Goro plopping down on the edge of the bed. Akira sat next to him after taking off his shoes, holding his hand. Goro slowly took off Akira’s shirt, moving to gingerly trace the burn marks that wrapped around his skin. 

"I'm gonna go home tonight, but I want to cuddle for a little bit."

"You sure you should?" 

"It's my apartment. And… I'm responsible for them anyway. Even if they hate me, I still need to take care of them."

"Yui doesn't hate you."

Goro pressed a kiss to his shoulder, letting his arms rest on Akira’s waist. He started pressing more kisses along his scars, apologetic. He felt Akira slide his hands under his shirt, gently laying them both down on the bed. 

"She might after I tell them the truth."

Akira squeezed him, trying to be reassuring. Goro hummed appreciatively, closing his eyes. 

~~~~~~~

"I don't know what you see in him." 

Rea's words were venomous as she spoke to him. Akira put the dishes down, turning to look at her. She had hoped she could get a definitive answer from his fiance, but Akira was not happy about her prying.

"Why do you hate him all of a sudden?" 

"Do you even know who he really is?" 

"I do. I know most of it." 

"Then why stay with such a monster?" 

"You know, your brother is working his ass off to become a better person." Sojiro says, catching her attention. "You would hardly believe the sort of person he used to be. Trust us, we lived through it. He's gotten better."

"He _murdered_ people!"

"I _know_ , Rea. But he's already served time and he sought out therapy on his own when he got out. He's doing his best to be a better person but fixing mental health isn't straight forward, okay?"

"You don't get it."

"Neither do you. Look, do you want to hear from other people who know him too? Would that help?"

"Sure, whatever. You won't change my mind."

_But they might be more receptive to what I'm saying._

"Fine. Wait until Leblanc closes, and we'll go."

“Akira, you do have to go back to school eventually, you know.” Sojiro frowned at him.

“I can go later tonight, I’m sure this wouldn’t take that long.”

Rea sat and waited, having nothing better to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira had texted her long beforehand that he was coming, Rea in tow. Akira could feel the icy stare on the back of his neck as he led her down Shinjuku’s red light district. He gives a short wave to the fortune teller stand before heading to Crossroads.

“Goro’s work?”

“He’s off today.”

Rea looked skeptical and wary until they stepped inside. Ohya was nowhere to be found, but Lala was behind the counter, putting away some glasses. She turned around at their entrance, smiling.

“Why hello Akira. Been some time since you’ve come by for me.” She teased.

“I know, Lala-chan, it’s good to see you.”

“And Rea, right?”

Rea blinked, surprised she could tell her and Yui apart.

“Look, after the scene your sister caused earlier, I can tell you’re not her. So come, have a seat. I hear you want to ask me some questions.”

She grabbed three glasses of water and led them over to one of the booths in the back corner, the three sitting around the corner seat, Akira in the middle. 

“Goro. You know who he is, don’t you?”

“I do know.”

“So why did you hire him? Knowing what he’s done.”

“Well, why should I not have?”

“He’s a killer. Not the type to be around.”

“And yet, you turned out fine.”

Rea huffed and crossed her arms.

“That’s because we didn’t know.”

“And? There was a reason for that, you understand.”

Rea gave her a hard stare. Lala sighed through her nose, leaning back against the booth seat.

“I didn’t believe it was him, at first. The Detective Prince, applying for a lowly bar job? Sounds like the start of a bad joke, doesn’t it?” Lala sipped her water, frowning in thought. “He was sure I would call him delusional too, since he didn’t quite look like that anymore. Much different than that picture ready teen star.”

Akira saw Rea close her eyes, thinking hard about it.

“But no, he assured me he was being honest. And just by talking to him, I could believe who he was. That was the trial of a lifetime for that prosecutor, I heard. A nightmare for the defense. But just seeing him sitting in front of me was kind of a shock, honestly. Thought he’d be locked up for a long time.”

Lala’s eyes flicked over to the dirty ashtray on the table, pulling it towards her. Rea was paying close attention now.

“But he wasn’t.”

“No. Got out on good behavior, I’m told. He admitted he was of a more cynical view, that they were sick of having to administer his medicine to him. Probably.” Lala shrugged, tilting the ashtray to inspect it. 

“So why hire him at all?”

“I’m told I hold the foolish belief of giving even the worst people in the world second chances.” She joked lightly, sweeping some loose ashes on the table into the ashtray. “And I simply talked to him for a while, asked him if he had any plans for the future, whether he had any goals. He mentioned therapist shopping, saying he thought he found one he really liked. And mostly, he applied because it wouldn’t be his same old routine, and maybe it was a chance to try and finish school, if he was feeling up to it.”

“He said he couldn’t do it now.”

“Yeah, he’s told me that too. He did make an effort, though, and he felt that was at least important to remember. Oh, don’t get me started on how nervous he was when he mentioned possibly being adopted.”

“Nervous?”

“He didn’t want you two to look up to him. Felt he would be a bad role model if you knew what he did in the past. He was excited to belong somewhere, though. Even if he was separated from you, he was looking forward to having a family.”

Rea leaned back, looking less intense now. Akira realized he was tense this whole time, relaxing his body a bit.

“Okay. Thanks.” Rea mumbled, scooting out of the booth. 

Akira followed, watching as Lala swiftly cleared the entire table. 

“Oh, young lady? I do hope you give him a second chance too.” She called after them as they exited into the cool night air.

Akira walked her back to the apartment, both quiet the whole time. They ran into Yui in the lobby, just returning from hanging out with Aya.

“I should get going. Goodbye girls.” Akira said, waving. 

“Bye, Akira. Good luck at school.” Yui chirped as the twins started their way up.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why are you here?" Rea hissed as they walked in. 

Goro sighed, putting the knife down. 

"Look, I'm still responsible for taking care of you, okay? At least, until mom comes to get you two. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to." 

"So, are you going to talk about your past? Or are you going to chicken out again?" 

"Rea." Yui said.

He returned to cutting the vegetables, going slow. 

"I will in two days. You can wait two days, can't you?" 

"What for?" 

Goro threw the vegetables into the pot, gritting his teeth. 

"I'm asking. For two days. Please."

The please was added almost like an afterthought. 

"Fine. Whatever." Rea huffed, sitting down on the couch and refusing to look at him. 

Yui sat down at the table, watching him breathe out slowly before continuing to cook. 

"Hey, dinner’s ready if you want it." He called after he was done. 

Rea silently gets herself a plate and moves to the couch. Yui helps herself to food, waiting until Goro got his own plate and sat back down. Yui took a few bites, watching him play with his food a little bit before putting the fork down. He didn't put much on his plate, she noticed. 

"How was your day?" She asked quietly. 

"Fine. How was school?" 

Yui filled him in on the lessons and such, excited to tell him about the day before as well. 

"-and Ann and Haru came to take us to dinner yesterday." 

"Oh? How nice of them. They're good friends. Where'd you guys go?"

Yui ended up dominating most of the conversation, Goro seeming a bit more calm now than he had been for the past few days. Still not exactly happy, but a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a weird relationship with this fic, where I can't write more of it when I think to write, but I come back after starting something else and now can write more to this one. 
> 
> I'm thinking maybe another... two chapters? to this one? Not sure. My life has been kinda wild and my ability to actually write for this one is kinda rare, so I don't want to put a definite final chapter number yet. We're slowly getting there, though.


	10. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro finally comes clean with the twins.

"You're seriously going to tell them all of it?" Morgana asked.

"I kinda… have to now." Goro said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I said I would."

Futaba spun around in her chair to stare at him. Goro sighed, closing his eyes. He was awkwardly sitting on the edge of her bed, having been invited after asking to talk to her.

"And you really want me, Mona and Sojiro there?"

"It'd be easier on me to have people who know everything there. You… don't have to."

"No, we'll be there. We're not Akira, but…"

"I think it'd make me more nervous if Akira was there." Goro muttered,clearing his throat. “As much as I love him, he can be overbearing.”

"If you say so. We're gonna be your support team!"

"Thanks, Sakura. That means a lot."

“So, what do you need us to do, exactly?”

“Just be there and not say anything.”

“Got it.”

“Thank you again.”

“It’s whatever, don’t worry about it.” 

Futaba turned back to her computer, pausing as he started getting up. 

“Hey, Makoto missed you, dude. She wanted to catch up.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Me too. I haven’t seen either of the Niijimas lately, now that you mention it. I should apologize, honestly.”

“Not your fault man. Everyone has bad days.”

Goro sighed deeply. 

“Not like that.” He muttered, then stood up straight again. “Anyways, I’ll see you around.”

“See ya.”

~~~~~~~~~

Goro took a deep breath, straightening up. Sojiro was behind the counter, lingering in the kitchen. Futaba had Morgana in her lap, sitting on a stool, and they were rapt with attention. He glanced at the three of them before he turned back to the twins sitting across from him, waiting.

"Everything, right?"

"At least what you told mom."

"Okay."

They watched him take another few deep breaths, closing his eyes. He opened them again, sliding his hands off the table and into his lap.

"I really wanted to live with mom, when it was just her, because it was the first time I ever felt loved again. But, after being removed from mom's house, I lost hope for ever experiencing any sort of kindness. I didn't really care what happened to me anymore, I didn’t matter to anyone. When I got my powers, I was angry at the world. Ended up killing one of my old abusive piece-of-shit foster fathers. I didn’t know until afterwards what I did. But it felt… good, back then, I’m not going to lie. So I just kept going.“

"So why didn't you stop after the one?"

"It was the first time since my mother died that I had any sort of control over my life. I finally had a way to get back at the people who abused me. I didn't want to let it go. I didn't know I could simply change hearts, and I didn't care about anything anymore. The foster home after that mostly just pretended I didn’t exist, so I had time to find out who my bastard of a father was. And he  _ had  _ to pay. If not for abandoning me, then for driving my mother to suicide. So I kept going, I offered myself to him, hoping maybe he’d trust me enough to get close enough to sink the knife in his back. It was doing a favor for a lot of people. Even if it was the last thing I did, I would take him with me." 

Goro barely kept his voice even, falling back into the booth. He was shaking again. 

"My only options was either a life sentence or death, even if I stopped. I didn’t care to live. I… wasn’t planning on living after his death, anyway. And for all the control I had, all of my planning, my  _ father _ …" Goro snarled, stopping and taking a deep breath. "He... he still managed to manipulate me, to follow his orders. He was going to have me killed after he was done with me anyway. So I just killed him a little earlier than I intended."

It was quiet for a second as they shifted awkwardly.

“So, was it worth it?” Rea asked.

“Rea.” Yui hissed.

“In the moment, yeah. It was.”

"So why are you telling us this now?"

"I'm not telling you this with the hope that you somehow sympathize with me, or forgive me, or to justify anything I've done. I know what I did, okay? I used to be a horrible person. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from, because I really should've told you earlier but I just... couldn't do it. I really am trying to change, to be better, honest. You two were one of the best things to ever happen to me, I didn't want to ruin it. But… I did."

Goro tilted his head up and closed his eyes for a moment. Tears rolled down his face, and he didn’t bother to wipe them away when he looked at them again.

"I'm sorry for… calling you… y'know... a bitch, by the way. It was… immature and jealous of me, and I'm trying to be better about that stuff."

He crossed his arms over his chest, squeezing his arms hard. It was silent for a while, no one knowing what to say.

"So why were you so upset the other day?" Yui asked gently.

He blinked. They watched him as he rifled through his bag, pulling something out and holding it under the table so they couldn't see it. He stared at it for another minute before he slowly handed them a faded photo.  

In it, a tinier version of him, with short hair and button down, alongside a smiling woman, a braid slung over one shoulder, both sitting at a table with a cake on it, candles lit. The photograph was dated January 17th, but the year was almost completely rubbed away. 

"It was my mother's birthday." Goro started, hands folded in front of him, taking several deep breaths before continuing. "And I make it a point to go visit her every year near her birthday, and… tell her how I'm doing. Usually I go alone, because it's silly and... embarrassing, but I wasn't sure if I could go by myself this year."

Rea held the photograph up, both of them glancing from it to him as he rubbed his face. He looked just like her, with the braid slung over his shoulder the same way, hair the same color and face just like hers. She lowered it as he looked up again, glancing towards the painting on the wall.

"It's the only thing I have left of her anymore. It's… probably not really healthy for me to visit anymore, but if I don't, then no one will. My… relatives stopped talking to her the second they learned she was pregnant with me." 

He reached for the photo, Rea handing it back over immediately. He stares at it again before holding it against his chest.

"I… I'm sorry. I'm trying to be who the two of you need me to be, but I just, can't. I don't know how to take care of anyone else, and I barely take care of me a lot of the time. I think it’s best if you two go home."

"So why did you even agree in the first place?"

"You were so excited and mom was really happy and I didn't want to disappoint any of you. I… uh, admittedly, I still have problems saying no to people older than me." He put the photo away, starting to slide out of the booth. "I love both of you, but my mental health was never great. I'm getting help, but I really don't know if I can be good enough for you two. And well, you know everything now, so I'm sure that will affect your decision to stay."

"Goro."

He winced, stopping on the edge.

"I… think… we should at least finish this semester. Since it’s almost done anyway. And then over the summer we'll be able to think about it." Rea said slowly. "Coming back, I mean. To Shujin."

He stared blankly, unsure.

"Oh. Okay, then. That's… fine." He got up slowly, awkward. "I do have to go or I'll be late for work. See… see you two at home?"

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

The bell jingling signaled his leaving. The twins stared at each other, thinking everything over. Sojiro moved to the counter, leaning on it and watching them carefully.

"So…" Sojiro prompted.

"It's… a lot to think about." Rea admitted.

"How did you even find out?" Futaba asked.

"Some… stupid fan blog. I don't remember it's name."

"Oh,  _ that _ one."

"You know what I'm talking about?"

"That girl stalked him. I had to help him."

Rea's eyes widened.

"O-oh."

She folded her hands in her lap, biting her lip. Eventually, the two got up and left, excusing themselves. Rea stayed silent the rest of the day.

~~~~~~~~

It was quiet while they were studying. Goro had already left for work an hour ago. It had been a few days since the three of  them really had sat down together, even if there wasn’t any talking. Goro seemed much too stressed, and Yui wished there was something she could do to help.

"We don't have any pictures of the three of us, do we? Like, together, I mean." Yui said, breaking the silence.

Rea scrunched her nose in thought, dropping her pencil.

“No. I don’t have any. Besides, he said he doesn’t really like pictures.” 

“Do we even have a picture of him and our moms? Together? I think it’s just the one that’s really old.”

“With Nara? Oh, that.” Rea frowned in thought, tapping her chin. “Maybe we should ask them? But why? What for?”

“Akira... mentioned he didn’t feel like part of the family. And y’know it kinda got me thinking. It’s just, weird we don’t have any pictures of him that he isn’t covering his face, y’know? With us in it, I mean.”

Rea leaned back, crossing her arms.

“I was… awful to him. I shouldn’t have said that horrible thing to him.” 

“You think?”

Rea shot her a dirty look.

“Sorry. I still can’t believe you said that to him.”

“I know, I’m the worst. But maybe, I can start to apologize by helping gather photos of us, yeah? Not like it’ll make him forgive me, but…”  

Rea grabbed her phone, texting. The two of them were mostly quiet again after she finished, only really discussing homework questions they were having trouble with.

~~~~~~

**Goro: How much dye should I use for my hair? Would two bottles be enough?**

Ann glanced at the text, scrunching up her nose. She clicked into the conversation, smiling a bit at the ice cream and heart emojis next to his name.

**Ur dyijg ur hair??**

**G: Yes. How much?**

**1st of all wat color**

**G: "electric blue"? I don't know it sounds good enough for me**

He sent her a picture of the box in his hands. Ann took a moment to try and picture him with that color.

**i mean its ur hair dude**

**G: I'm not good at this stuff. Should I ask Ryuji?**

**two bottles. just get two bottles. ryuji only bleaches his hair**

**G: Okay.**

**and send me pics when ur done!! i wanna seee!**

~~~~~~~~

Goro unlocked the door to the apartment, reading Ann’s last text on his way in, purchase in his other hand. He had asked Takemi about the possibility of antidepressants again, discussing the pros and cons with her, and going over the side effects any antidepressant might have when mixed with his medicine. And honestly, he came to the conclusion he was more stressed over what his sisters thought of him rather than just him being depressed due to his medicine. He thanked Takemi for her time before heading out. He went to the indoor climbing place for the first time in a while, just to not think about anything for the next hour or so he was there.  The hair dye was a whim purchase, talking it over with Ann briefly.

He dropped his bag onto one of the kitchen chairs, slipping into the bathroom. He wouldn’t be disturbed for some time, since the girls were at school. He took out the boxes, opening them to free the hair dye within. He read the instructions that came with the dye, making sure to read it through a couple of times before he started. He took off his top, not really wanting to get dye on the shirt he stole from Akira. He undid his hair tie and brushed his fingers through his hair a few times to make sure all the strands were loose. He put on a pair of the disposable gloves he bought, pouring a good amount of dye into a paper bowl. He was going to be sitting here for a while, opening his phone to play a random music playlist.   
  


“Whoa, Sapph, your hair.” Ohya said, eyes widening.

Goro nervously smiled, his hair now dark blue, back in its usual braid with some of the beads Ann gave him threaded throughout it. 

“Do you like it? I figured a change would be good.” 

“It looks good.” Lala cut Ohya off before she could say anything.

“Yeah, you make it work.”

He slipped into the backroom to prepare. He rolled his braid up into a bun before pinning it in place with his hair stick, adjusting it slightly on account of the beads in it. He noticed he missed a few strands, the brown peaking through near the back of his neck. He frowned a bit before finishing getting ready, coming back out. 

“I have to say, this is quite the change from your usual self.” Lala commented.

“It is. I’m still nervous about it, but I think I’ll get used to it.”

“Hey, how are you and the twins?” Ohya asked, swirling the ice around in her glass absently.

“Uh… better? I think? I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t tell, honestly.”

“So you told them?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, good for you. I’m sure they’ll come around.” Lala said, patting his shoulder gently.

Goro smiled, helping Lala set up for opening. He had the feeling the customers would bother him about it, but it felt nice to be complimented on a change.

~~~~~~~~~

The twins paused in surprise, their brother now having dark blue hair pulled back into a braid, working in the kitchen.

“Holy shit you dyed your hair?” 

Goro blinked at Yui, confused for a split second. He went back to what he was doing, stirring the contents of the skillet in front of him absently. 

“Oh, yeah, I did. I… kinda always wanted to, actually. But you know, it uh, wouldn’t have been professional, so I put it off.”

“Nice. It looks good on you.”

Rea stayed quiet throughout the whole exchange, watching him carefully. He seemed to be okay.

“How was school?” He asked.

Yui sat down and recounted their day, Rea sitting down beside her after a moment or two. Goro didn’t say much, just concentrating on making food. As dinner started, Rea noticed he avoided eye contact with them, more focused on his plate or phone. He was at least eating more than he had been for the past few days, and she was relieved about that. But it was still too quiet, especially on his end. Rea waited until after dinner to say anything, watching him sew for a few minutes while she got the courage to speak.

“Goro?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry about what I said.”

He stopped and looked up at her, his face carefully neutral. The tenseness of his shoulders held an entirely different emotion.

“I… shouldn’t have said that to you.”

He dropped his project on the table, scowling, closing his eyes and knitting his brows together. 

“That really hurt.” He said quietly. 

Rea winced at the slight angry hiss in his voice. He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. He refused to look at her, staring at the table as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair. She knew by his icy silence that he wasn’t going to forgive her immediately. It went unspoken, as soon as they were old enough to understand, that it was something to never be brought up. She and Yui had pinky promised not to say anything, knowing it was a fact Goro was sensitive about above all else. 

Rea had meant to hurt him deeply, and she not only opened a wound, she threw salt in it.

He returned to his sewing, ignoring her entirely. Rea got up and joined Yui, deciding it wouldn’t be good to stay near him at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~

**Ann: dude show everyone!! Goro send it!**

**Babe: Give me a minute.**

Akira glanced at his phone, wondering what Ann was talking about. He went back to his study group, quizzing Jin on their study guide that he only did half of. Another buzz prompted him to pick up his phone. A selfie of Goro, a crooked smile on his face, his hair down, but instead of its usual brown it was dark blue. 

**oh u dyed ur hair????**

**B: Yeah.**

**Futaba: wrow. didnt think ud b the type gowo uwu**

**B: … Don't call me that.**

Akira grinned as they started going back and forth. Fuki shifted back, having looked over his shoulder.

"Wow. I've never seen your fiance with his hair down."

Akira quickly silenced his phone and put it face down. He was slightly embarrassed that she had seen it, knowing Goro really only shared pictures of himself because he trusted their friend group. 

"Yeah, well. He likes it up."

"It's a cute look on him. The blue."

"Yeah, it is. I’ll pay attention now though, sorry."

“Wait, he dyed his hair? Let us see?” Mino said, standing up.

“Well… he doesn't like his picture taken, so he really only shares them with me and our friends when he does." Akira rubbed the back of his neck. "So I don't want to show it without his permission, you know?"

Mino pouted for a moment, muttering how lucky Fuki was to see it.

"Ah, sorry. I was being nosy, then." Fuki apologized, brushing off something on her shirt. "My bad."

"It's alright. You'll get to see it when he comes down for our graduation."

"That's  _ if _ you graduate." Jin grinned, laughing and ducking as Akira threw a ball of paper at him.

They finally started going back to the study guide, determined to finish before midnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly... they're getting somewhere.


End file.
